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Jefferson County School District No. R-1


At a glance
24thof 114 Colorado districts▲ 5
Better than 78% of Colorado districts
1829 Denver West Dr. Bldg #27
Golden, CO 80401-0001
·(303) 982-6500·All Colorado district rankings →
Statewide performance 2018–2026
2026: better than 78.9% of districts
144
Schools
73,532
Students
20
5-star schools
Top rankedDennison Elementary School3rd of 946 Colorado elementary schools
Biggest riser
Dutch Creek Elementary School up 204 spots statewide this year
Smallest classes
Sobesky Academy 6.6 students per teacher
SchoolDigger ratings
5★
4★
3★
2★
20 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)
Summary:

Jefferson County School District No. R-1 (Jeffco) is a large Colorado district serving 142 schools — 85 elementary, 19 middle, 30 high, and 8 alternative schools — in the Denver metropolitan area, and it ranks 24th out of 115 Colorado districts with a 4-star rating. Enrollment ranges from tiny special programs like Rocky Mountain Youth Services Center (13 students) to large comprehensive high schools like Arvada West High School (1,923 students).

Jeffco has some genuinely elite schools. D'Evelyn Junior/Senior High School is ranked #1 in Colorado among high schools three years running, with 99% SAT reading/writing and 96% SAT math proficiency, a 4.6% absenteeism rate, and a 0% dropout rate. Dennison Elementary School (ranked #3 in the state), Parmalee Elementary School (#16), Evergreen High School (#14), Ralston Valley Senior High School (#19), and Manning Options School (#23 among middle schools) are all top performers. At the other extreme, Lumberg Elementary School ranks 942nd of 943 elementary schools, while Alameda International Junior/Senior High School and Arvada High School sit near the bottom of the high-school rankings with single-digit test scores and chronic absenteeism above 59%. Brady Exploration School has a 5.7% graduation rate and 92.9% absenteeism.

The strongest pattern in the data is that schools with low poverty rates and low chronic absenteeism consistently outperform schools with high poverty and absenteeism. Math is the district's biggest challenge — proficiency lags reading by 20–30 points on the SAT even in top schools. Some schools are improving (Lincoln Charter Academy, Bell Middle School, Stott Elementary School), while a few are slipping (Dakota Ridge Senior High School, Chatfield High School, Bear Creek K-8 School). Alternative schools like Sobesky Academy, Miller Special Education, and Rocky Mountain Deaf School serve specialized populations and should be evaluated against their own goals rather than ranked alongside traditional schools.

Showing the top 100 of 144 schools. Load all 144 schools.
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Ranking:
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E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private




Districts nearby

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Colorado Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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