Lamar School District No. Re-2

Lamar School District No. Re-2 in Lamar, Colorado serves roughly 1,275 students across five schools: one high school, one middle school, and three elementary schools, including a charter school. While the district overall ranks in the 23rd percentile of Colorado districts, the schools within it vary dramatically in performance, poverty levels, and attendance, making it important for parents to look beyond the district-wide rating.

At the top end, Alta Vista Charter School stands out as the district's strongest performer, ranking in the 64th percentile statewide. It posts ELA and math proficiency rates above the state average, has a free/reduced lunch rate of just 44.4%, and chronic absenteeism of only 4.4% — about seven times better than the district average. In contrast, Parkview Elementary School is the lowest-performing school in the district, with just 8.5% math proficiency and a 5th-percentile state rank. Washington Elementary School, serving grades K–2, has no current test scores, but its 86.5% poverty rate and 42.9% chronic absenteeism signal serious early risks — and those challenges likely carry forward to Parkview and beyond.

At the secondary level, Lamar High School graduates 96.6% of students, far above the state rate, yet only 8% are proficient in SAT math and 27% in reading/writing — a paradox of high graduation with low college readiness. Lamar Middle School is the district's most improved school, climbing to the 40th percentile, and its 8th-grade math proficiency nearly matches the state average. Families should know that school-level factors matter greatly here: poverty and absenteeism strongly track with achievement, but Alta Vista proves that success is possible even within a district that serves many high-need students. The biggest district-wide opportunity likely lies in improving early-grade attendance, especially at Washington Elementary, and in strengthening math instruction across elementary and middle school grades.