Summary:
Ridgway School District No. R-2 is home to a single middle school, Ridgway Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 74 students in the small mountain community of Ridgway, Colorado. This tiny enrollment makes the school part of a top-ranked system: the district is rated #2 out of 115 districts in the state, earning a 5-star rating and placing it in the 98th percentile. Because there is only one middle school in the district, the school's results directly mirror district-level metrics, so parents can interpret both as one and the same.
Ridgway Middle School performs exceptionally well compared to state averages. In science, 8th grade proficiency is 75% versus the state’s 35.4% — a dramatic gap. All-grades ELA proficiency stands at 61.7% (state: 44.7%), and all-grades math at 54.1% (state: 37.3%). Chronic absenteeism is just 9.5%, far below the district's 22.1% and the state's 28.4%, indicating a highly engaged student body. The school’s state ranking has slipped gradually from the 90th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 86th percentile in 2025–2026, but it still maintains a 4-star rating. This slight decline likely reflects cohort changes or improved performance elsewhere rather than a drop in quality.
Year-over-year data shows typical small-school volatility: ELA proficiency fell sharply from 75.4% to 61.7%, while math rose from 52.2% to 54.1% and science jumped 20 points from 55% to 75%. Within the current data, the 7th grade cohort stands out as the strongest, with 70% ELA and 65% math proficiency, while 6th grade math is a relative weak point at 42.9% (though still above the state’s 32.7%). With a favorable 10.3-to-1 student-teacher ratio, parents can expect small classes and individualized attention, which likely supports both the strong academic outcomes and the low absenteeism. Overall, Ridgway Middle School is a high-achieving school with notable strengths in science and a supportive environment, despite the natural ups and downs of a very small student population.
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