Best Public Schools in Bennett, CO

Bennett, Colorado, is served by the Bennett School District No. 29J, a small traditional public-school district with four schools serving roughly 1,219 students in grades K-12. The district ranks 88th out of 115 Colorado districts with a 1-star rating, indicating below-average overall performance. The four schools are Bennett High School (grades 9-12, 431 students), Bennett Middle School (grades 6-8, 281 students), Bennett Intermediate School (grades 3-5, 256 students), and Bennett Elementary School (grades K-2, 251 students). Bennett Elementary serves the district's youngest students and has no current test data, which limits direct academic comparisons for the early elementary grades.

Among the schools with current data, Bennett Intermediate School is the strongest academic performer, with English Language Arts proficiency at 33.2% and math at 24.2% — both above district averages — and the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in the district at 22.3%. Bennett High School is the graduation standout, graduating 91.7% of its students compared to the state average of 85.6%, even though its SAT scores are low (16% math proficiency). Bennett Middle School is the biggest area of concern: it ranks in the 9th percentile among Colorado middle schools, with just 19.5% ELA proficiency, 13.2% math proficiency, the district's highest chronic absenteeism rate (30.8%), and the highest student-teacher ratio at 21.7.

Every tested school falls well below state averages, but the pattern is telling: students perform best at the intermediate level and then decline through middle school. The middle school, where nearly one in three students is chronically absent and only 13% are proficient in math, appears to be where the academic slide occurs. Chronic absenteeism is a districtwide issue, ranging from 22.3% at the intermediate school to 30.8% at the middle school, with the high school and elementary school both around 29%. The strong graduation rate at Bennett High School is a genuine bright spot, but district leaders should prioritize interventions at Bennett Middle School and focus on supporting students during the transition from elementary to middle school.