Cherry Creek School District No. 5

The Cherry Creek School District No. 5 serves roughly 51,750 students across 66 schools in the Denver metro area — 46 elementary schools, 11 middle schools, and 9 high schools — and ranks 26th out of 115 Colorado districts with a 4-star rating. District-wide averages beat the state on nearly every headline metric, including graduation rate (91.6% vs. 85.6%), CMAS math proficiency (44.2% vs. 37.3%), and SAT reading/writing proficiency (71% vs. 60%), but those averages conceal a dramatic performance gap. Some schools rank among the very best in Colorado while others rank near the bottom, making this a district of extremes rather than uniform excellence.

At the top, Challenge School is the standout, ranking 6th of 943 elementary schools statewide with 91.4% ELA and 92.2% math proficiency and only 6.8% chronic absenteeism. Cherry Creek Charter Academy (rank 14) and Altitude Elementary (rank 17) also post exceptional scores with attendance rates among the district's best. For middle schools, West Middle School leads at rank 27 of 469 with 70.5% ELA and 68.3% math proficiency, followed closely by Campus Middle School (rank 34). At the high school level, Cherry Creek High School is in a league of its own, ranking 25th of 338 with a 95.7% graduation rate, 83% SAT reading/writing proficiency, and an extraordinary 65.5% science proficiency. It clearly outpaces Grandview High School (rank 75), Cherokee Trail High School (rank 83), and Eaglecrest High School (rank 103).

The lower end of the district tells a very different story. Overland High School ranks 277th of 338 with an 83.8% graduation rate, 51.8% chronic absenteeism, and just 19% SAT math proficiency, while Smoky Hill High School (rank 182) and Prairie Middle School (rank 414 of 469) struggle with both low proficiency and attendance. Elementary schools including Village East (rank 911), Ponderosa (rank 895), Highline (rank 864), and Eastridge (rank 856) all post proficiency below 25% in both subjects. Chronic absenteeism is the most consistent warning sign — schools above 40% absenteeism are almost always at the bottom of their peer group. Encouragingly, schools like Liberty Middle School (rank jumping from 140 to 83) and Altitude Elementary (51 to 17) prove that meaningful improvement is achievable even with moderate-to-high poverty rates.