Best High Schools in Colorado for African American Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in Colorado!

Every year, the Colorado Department of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, African American students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Colorado test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the PSAT10 and PSAT9 and SAT and CMAS test scores by the Colorado Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, August 21, 2025.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (African American vs All Students - 2025)					ID
Rank (of 30)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Statewide Rank Percentile (African American)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (African American)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)	ID
1	DSST: Conservatory Green High School	Public, Charter	9-12	5590 N Central Park Blvd #4	Denver	80238	Denver County	School District No. 1	Yes	No	No	Yes	(303) 802-4127	556	41	13.5	69.8%	45 (8.1%)	96 (17.3%)	365 (65.6%)	19 (3.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (5.4%)	$17,896							96.7%	67.4%	29.29%			080336006730
2	DSST: Cedar High School	Public, Charter	9-12	150 South Pearl Street	Denver	80209	Denver County	School District No. 1	Yes	No	No	No	(303) 524-6350	546	35	15.7	57.1%	163 (29.9%)	139 (25.5%)	192 (35.2%)	20 (3.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (4.6%)	$18,012							93.3%	78.0%	15.28%			080336006684
3	DSST: Green Valley Ranch High School	Public, Charter	9-12	4800 Telluride Street #2	Denver	80249	Denver County	School District No. 1	Yes	No	No	Yes	(303) 524-6300	562	48	11.7	73.8%	18 (3.2%)	143 (25.4%)	314 (55.9%)	59 (10.5%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.8%)	18 (3.2%)	$17,774							90.0%	57.6%	32.38%			080336006450
4	Lotus School for Excellence	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	11001-A East Alameda Avenue	Aurora	80012	Arapahoe County	Aurora Joint District No. 28	Yes	No	No	Yes	(303) 360-0052	1,008	66	15.2	91.8%	110 (10.9%)	393 (39.0%)	452 (44.8%)	17 (1.7%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (3.3%)	$13,387							86.7%	21.3%	65.33%			080234001916
5	Eaglecrest High School	Public	9-12	5100 South Picadilly Street	Centennial	80015	Arapahoe County	Cherry Creek School District No. 5	No	No	No	No	(720) 886-1000	2,851	139	20.4	35.1%	1,214 (42.6%)	452 (15.9%)	676 (23.7%)	210 (7.4%)	17 (0.6%)	15 (0.5%)	254 (8.9%)	$15,520							83.3%	66.8%	16.57%			080291006156
6	Cherokee Trail High School	Public	9-12	25901 Arapahoe Parkway	Aurora	80016	Arapahoe County	Cherry Creek School District No. 5	No	No	No	No	(720) 886-1900	3,089	153	20.2	21.1%	1,592 (51.5%)	312 (10.1%)	610 (19.7%)	297 (9.6%)	12 (0.4%)	7 (0.2%)	253 (8.2%)	$15,350							80.0%	73.8%	6.22%			080291001951
7	DSST: Montview High School	Public, Charter	9-12	2000 Valentia Street	Denver	80238	Denver County	School District No. 1	Yes	No	No	Yes	(303) 320-5570	562	46	12.3	69.9%	72 (12.8%)	215 (38.3%)	225 (40.0%)	19 (3.4%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (4.8%)	$17,641							76.7%	57.9%	18.74%			080336001833
8	Mesa Ridge High School	Public	9-12	6070 Mesa Ridge Parkway	Colorado Springs	80911	El Paso County	School District No. 3	No	No	No	No	(719) 391-3600	1,304	69	18.8	35.9%	504 (38.7%)	158 (12.1%)	439 (33.7%)	18 (1.4%)	15 (1.2%)	20 (1.5%)	150 (11.5%)	$13,973							73.3%	31.1%	42.24%			080648001588
9	Rocky Mountain Prep RISE	Public, Charter	9-12	18250 East 51st Avenue	Denver	80249	Denver County	School District No. 1	Yes	No	No	Yes	(720) 485-6393	586	46	12.6	77.8%	29 (4.9%)	94 (16.0%)	392 (66.9%)	34 (5.8%)	3 (0.5%)	19 (3.2%)	13 (2.2%)	$16,325							70.0%	23.8%	46.22%			080336006689
10	Smoky Hill High School	Public	9-12	16100 East Smoky Hill Road	Aurora	80015	Arapahoe County	Cherry Creek School District No. 5	No	No	No	No	(720) 886-5300	2,297	115	19.9	48.6%	785 (34.2%)	374 (16.3%)	765 (33.3%)	127 (5.5%)	7 (0.3%)	12 (0.5%)	219 (9.5%)	$15,854							66.7%	47.0%	19.72%			080291000203

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Colorado

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CO student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Disabled Students Gifted and Talented Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on PSAT10 Reading and Writing, PSAT10 Mathematics, CMAS Science, SAT Reading and Writing, SAT Mathematics, PSAT9 Reading and Writing, PSAT9 Mathematics test scores released by the Colorado Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 21, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Colorado Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Colorado Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Colorado Department of Education.