Weld County School District No. Re-9

Weld County School District No. Re-9 serves 976 students across three 1-star schools — Highland Elementary School (K–5), Highland Middle School (6–8), and Highland High School (9–12) — and ranks in the 13th percentile statewide (100th of 115 districts). All three schools rank below the 30th percentile among their school types, with the elementary school at the 19th percentile, the middle school at the 28th, and the high school at the 27th.

Highland High School is the brightest spot: its 21.3% chronic absenteeism rate is better than the district (28.0%) and state (28.4%), and its SAT Reading/Writing proficiency (51%) is the closest any school comes to the state average (60%). It also has the lowest free/reduced lunch rate (28.76%) and the lowest student-teacher ratio (13.7). However, its graduation rate (77.3%) trails the state (85.6%), and its percentile rank fell from 35th to 27th. Highland Middle School is the only school improving, rising from the 21st to 28th percentile; its 7th grade math proficiency (33.3%) actually exceeds the state average (32.9%), but its chronic absenteeism is the district's highest at 32.0%. Highland Elementary School faces the highest poverty (36.57% free/reduced lunch) and has a striking 3rd grade ELA proficiency of just 10%, though 4th grade ELA reaches 36.1%.

Mathematics is the district's most consistent weakness: only 15% of 11th graders are proficient in SAT math versus 32% statewide. Reading is comparatively strong at the high school, where PSAT 9 and 10 reading scores (59% and 56%) are within 10 points of state averages. Chronic absenteeism above 30% in the elementary and middle schools likely compounds academic struggles. Dramatic swings between grade levels — 8th grade ELA at 12.5% versus 7th grade at 31.3% — suggest cohort or instructional differences, while one-year test swings at the high school (9th grade PSAT math dropping from 38% to 21%) signal volatility. Despite the district's low ranking, the high school's reading performance and the middle school's 7th grade math show building blocks for improvement.