U.S. News ranks Colorado's best high schools

ByCaitlin Hendee

Read the full article at bizjournals.com >

Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, a high school in the Boulder Valley School District, is Colorado’s No. 1 high school, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2016 rankings of the “Best High Schools,” released Tuesday.

“A high school education is imperative for success in both college and a career, and a school’s graduation rate is a key indicator of whether students are being effectively prepared for both paths,” said Anita Narayan, managing editor of education at U.S. News. “The 2016 Best High Schools rankings provide students and parents with data-driven information on public schools to help them make better-informed decisions about their education.

To compile the report, U.S. News & World report evaluated data on more than 21,500 U.S. high schools categorized as charter, magnet and public, including 468 in Colorado. U.S. News looked at factors like:

  • Reading and math scores.
  • Enrollment.
  • Diversity.
  • Whether disadvantaged students performed better than disadvantaged students in the state.
  • Graduation rates.
  • College readiness performance.

U.S. News says Colorado’s top 10 high schools overall (including charter, magnet and public) are:

  1. Peak to Peak Charter School, Lafayette, Boulder Valley School District (BVSD).
  2. KIPP Denver Collegiate High School, Denver, Denver Public Schools (DPS).
  3. DSST: Stapleton High School, Denver, DPS.
  4. D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School, Denver, Jefferson County School District.
  5. Liberty Common Charter School, Fort Collins, Poudre School District.
  6. The Vanguard School, Colorado Springs, Cheyenne Mountain School District.
  7. Fairview High School, Boulder, BVSD.
  8. Denver School of the Arts, Denver, DPS.
  9. Telluride High School, Telluride, Telluride School District
  10. The Classical Academy High School, Colorado Springs, Academy, School District No. 20.

U.S. News says the top high school in the nation is The School for the Talented and Gifted in Dallas, Texas; followed by two Arizona schools: BASIS Scottsdale at No. 2 and BASIS Tucson North at No. 3.

The state’s top public schools in metro Denver also included Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, at No. 14 overall; Rock Canyon High School in Littleton, at No. 15 overall; and Grandview High School in southeast Aurora, at No. 18 overall.