Golden Independent School is a small private elementary school in the West Denver area, with advanced learning opportunities for children aged 4 - 12.  We offer pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, elementary school, summer camps, homeschool sessions, and community classes.  

Golden Independent School’s Mission:

Our purpose at Golden Independent School is to inspire children to learn, to make connections between people and ideas, and to actively explore the world, continually developing as self-responsible citizens.

Inspire * Connect * Explore

Help your child achieve academic success within an alternative school that fosters a lifetime love of learning.  Explore our community or contact us for more information.

Advantages of Golden Independent School’s advanced learning methods:

• Children are guided to achieve academic success and a lifetime love of learning;
• All students deepen their understanding of the world and apply knowledge for real purposes;
• Young citizens work togther to solve problems and resolve conflict;
• Academically gifted learners are challenged at their own level without age/grade limitations;
• Families participate in school policies, events, and day-to-day activities;
• Community experts work with us to provide new public learning opportunities and projects that benefit us all.

Golden Independent School’s Values:

Curriculum: A child’s social interactions and emotional development are equally important as intellectual growth. Social studies is the developmentally-appropriate core subject for elementary students, focusing on people and what they do. Language use, mathematical thinking, historical thinking, scientific thinking, the arts, and healthy behavior are all essential, interrelated subjects of study around a social-studies theme.

Teaching: Teachers are expert guides who collaborate with students and parents to design curriculum, refine the learning process, enforce the school rules, and carry out our mission.

Achievement: Each child has individual strengths, talents, desires and challenges. Basic skills are essential foundations for the goals of learning: Problem-solving, critical thinking, and understanding.

Equality: All people deserve equal opportunities. Children have different backgrounds and experiences to build upon. We do not expect learning outcomes to be the same for everyone.

Standards: National, state and local standards for education in each area of study are guidelines for achievement. While keeping grade-level expectations for skills well in mind, we know that children reach different levels of achievement at different times. The body of knowledge readily available for study is vast, thus we do not use checklists of specific topics that must be learned in grade school.

Diversity: Children benefit from interacting with all kinds of people. Different learning styles require differing approaches to learning. Some special educational needs require special learning environments which we cannot always accommodate.

Assessment: Children should be able to demonstrate their understanding and share it with others. Their progress is individual, not graded or competitive; each person’s strengths can shine. Portfolios of work are the best indicators of improvement. Test-taking skills are Well-designed tests can only measure specific, limited knowledge or ability at one point in time.

Behavior: Becoming a life-long learner requires developing a personal work ethic as well as essential tools for learning in time management, ownership of behavior, group participation, treatment of others, risk-taking, dependability, and reflection.

Economy: Quality education should be affordable for all people. We are a not-for-profit, community organization that provides opportunities for families of all economic levels. All parents should have a choice about where their children go to school.

Environment: We believe the earth has limited resources, thus we must conserve them through reducing our impact, reusing materials, and recycling. Caring for the environment is one of each citizen’s responsibilities.

Rules: Be safe, be kind, be productive, have fun.

Testimonials: What People Are Saying About Golden Independent School:

“The Golden Civic Foundation is proud to support private schools, too.  The Golden Independent School has been providing families in Golden with a choice for many years now.”  Chuck Baroch, President of the Golden Civic Foundation, Former Mayor of Golden (conferring a grant for unit blocks to Dr. Erika Sueker, Fall 2008)

“My motto is, ‘Never let schools get in the way of education.’  I support Golden Independent School because it doesn’t just “instruct” (’to put in structure’), but “educates” both children and adults (’education’ is from the Latin educare, which means ‘to draw out.’)”  Dr. Richard Ferguson, Founder, Boonville, CA

“I want my son to have the foundation of a small, private school classroom when he is young.  When he is in a class with 28 children and one teacher, I worry that he isn’t getting the positive attention he needs.”  Andrea Antkowiak, Arvada

This school is just what I was looking for!  My son is a visual-spatial learner who loves to use his hands, make art, do science experiments, and write.  I want his learning environment to be as free of coercion as possible so he can know his inner voice.  The teachers at Golden Independent School provide light, appropriate guidance so that his natural love of learning is nurtured, not quashed.”  Debra Alford, Arvada