Summary:
Julesburg School District No. Re1 is a small, median-ranked Colorado district serving roughly 668 students across three schools: the large alternative Destinations Career Academy of Colorado (grades 4–12), Julesburg Elementary School (PK–6), and Julesburg High School (7–12). The district has no separate middle school, and the alternative academy accounts for about 68% of total enrollment.
Each school fills a distinct role. Destinations Career Academy is the graduation standout with a 97.5% graduation rate and 0.6% dropout rate, but it also has the district’s highest chronic absenteeism (43.8%) and very low state test proficiency — only 10.1% proficient in math and 27.8% in English language arts. Julesburg Elementary, despite having the highest poverty rate (69.44% free/reduced lunch), posts the district’s best attendance with just 13.1% chronically absent, and it enjoys the most favorable student/teacher ratio at 11.3. Julesburg High School shines in reading/writing with 88% PSAT 10 proficiency, well above the state’s 65%, and has improved its state ranking from the 46th to 61st percentile over recent years. However, its SAT math proficiency is only 22%, below the state’s 32%, and its 82.4% graduation rate trails both the alternative school and the state average.
Across the district, math proficiency is a clear weakness in every school, while literacy is a relative strength. Chronic absenteeism varies dramatically: the elementary school is strong, the high school is better than the state, but the alternative school struggles — a risk that may be tied to its virtual/hybrid model. With just 107–108 students in the brick-and-mortar schools, small enrollment makes percentages volatile, so year-to-year changes should be interpreted cautiously. Overall, parents should weigh the alternative academy’s flexible, high-graduation pathway against its very low test scores and attendance concerns, while the two local schools offer a more traditional experience with strong elementary attendance and solid high school reading achievement.
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