Trinidad School District 1

Trinidad School District 1 is a small rural district in Colorado with three schools serving 769 students across grades K-12. Fisher’s Peak Elementary School stands out as the district’s strongest performer, showing steady improvement and even beating the state in several early-grade subjects, while Trinidad Middle School and Trinidad High School lag far behind, especially in math.

All three schools serve high-poverty populations, with more than two-thirds of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. Despite having the highest poverty rate in the district, Fisher’s Peak Elementary performs the best: its overall ELA proficiency (43.2%) nearly matches the state average (44.7%), and its 5th grade ELA (56.4%) and 3rd grade math (47.7%) both exceed state rates. In contrast, Trinidad Middle School posts just 35.8% ELA and 18.5% math proficiency, while Trinidad High School’s SAT math proficiency is only 8% versus the state’s 32%. Math is clearly the district’s biggest weakness, with high school students about 1 in 10 proficient. Chronic absenteeism is below the state average at all schools, but the middle school has the highest rate at 25.7%.

The elementary school has improved significantly over two years, jumping from the 32nd to the 44th percentile statewide, while the secondary schools have remained stagnant. Within Fisher’s Peak, math proficiency drops sharply from 3rd grade (47.7%) to 5th grade (17.9%), suggesting early gains are not sustained. Trinidad High School has a low dropout rate (0.8%) and improving science scores (22.9% vs. 24.8% state), but its reading and math gaps remain large. Since the elementary school performs best despite the highest poverty rate, school-level factors like instruction and leadership likely matter more than income. The district’s best hope is to learn from Fisher’s Peak’s success and urgently address the secondary math crisis.