Telluride School District No. R-1

Telluride School District No. R-1 serves the mountain community of Telluride, Colorado, with four schools covering grades PK through 12 and a total enrollment of 799 students, ranking 11th out of 115 Colorado districts with a 5-star rating. The Telluride School District No. R-1 is a small, high-performing district where school-to-school differences in achievement are notable, while socioeconomic demographics remain remarkably consistent across all four schools, with free/reduced lunch rates clustered near 30%.

The academic anchors of the district are Telluride High School and Telluride Middle School. Telluride High School ranks 32nd among 338 Colorado high schools (91st percentile) and posts elite results: an 86% SAT reading/writing proficiency rate, 64% SAT math proficiency (double the state average), 11th-grade science proficiency of 59.7% versus 24.8% statewide, and a 97.9% graduation rate. Telluride Middle School ranks in the 85th percentile and shines in ELA with 74.1% proficiency versus 44.7% statewide, plus strong 8th-grade science and math scores, though 7th-grade math remains a moderate area. These two schools are delivering outstanding outcomes across most subjects, making them clear standouts.

The district’s main concerns center on Telluride Intermediate School and chronic absenteeism. Telluride Intermediate dropped from the 73rd to the 55th percentile in one year, with ELA proficiency falling 12 points to 49.3% and 5th-grade science collapsing from 58.8% to 27.9% — a dramatic decline that could affect future middle and high school performance. Meanwhile, Telluride Elementary School serves grades PK–2 with an exceptionally low 7.6 student-teacher ratio, building strong foundations but offering no test data yet. Chronic absenteeism is elevated district-wide, with Telluride Middle School at 37.6% and Telluride High School at 32.9%, both above the state average of 28.4%. Overall, this is a high-performing district with a serious intermediate school problem that warrants immediate attention.