Summary:
Florence, Colorado is served by two public schools in the Fremont RE-2 district: Florence Junior/Senior High School (grades 7–12, 572 students) and Fremont Elementary School (grades PK–6, 441 students). The district ranks in the bottom 7% of Colorado districts, and both schools carry 1-star ratings.
Florence Junior/Senior High School is the brighter spot. Its state ranking improved from the 22nd to 29th percentile over three years, and its 9th-grade PSAT reading/writing proficiency (75%) tops the state average. The school also has a dropout rate (1.2%) better than the state’s 1.6% and an 82.6% graduation rate close to the state average. However, math is critically weak, with only 8% of 11th graders proficient in SAT Math. Fremont Elementary School, by contrast, has slipped from the 27th to 18th percentile. It has a higher poverty rate (59.6% free/reduced lunch) and higher chronic absenteeism (34.1% vs. 28.4% statewide). Its 6th-grade math proficiency is just 5.6% compared to 32.7% statewide.
Every math score in both schools falls far below the state average, and the gap widens with each grade level—suggesting math struggles begin early and compound. Chronic absenteeism exceeds the state rate at both schools. Also, the high school’s all-grades CMAS ELA proficiency dropped sharply from 51.4% to 22.9% in one year, a red flag worth investigating. Despite these challenges, the high school keeps students on track to graduate at near-state levels. The key opportunity for Florence is a coordinated focus on early math intervention and reducing absenteeism to help both schools improve.
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