Adams City High School

Adams City High School is a large public high school in Commerce City, Colorado, serving about 1,500 students in grades 9–12, where roughly 85% of students come from low-income households. It is part of School District N. 14, the lowest-ranked district in the state, and the school itself sits in the bottom 1% of all Colorado high schools—333rd out of 338 in the 2025–2026 school year.

Academically, Adams City is among the lowest-performing high schools in Colorado. On the 9th-grade PSAT9, only 29% of students scored proficient in reading/writing versus 66% statewide, and just 9% did so in math versus 40% statewide. On the 11th-grade SAT, reading/writing proficiency was 22% versus 59% statewide. Chronic absenteeism is also severely elevated—54.6% of students were chronically absent in 2024–2025, nearly double the statewide rate of 28.4%. One bright spot is the graduation rate: 87.9% of seniors graduated in 2024–2025, above the state average of 85.6%. Yet the combination of high graduation rates and very low test scores suggests that many students are being promoted without mastering core academic content.

The contrast with nearby schools shows that poverty does not have to determine outcomes. Victory Preparatory Academy High State Charter School, which serves a similar population with 83% free/reduced-price lunch eligibility, posted a 65% proficiency rate on the 11th-grade SAT reading/writing exam and a chronic absenteeism rate of just 26.8%. DSST: Conservatory Green High School outperformed Adams City by roughly 30–50 percentage points in both reading and math. Northfield High School, just a few miles away, ranks in the 85th percentile statewide with a 98% graduation rate and SAT reading proficiency of 74%. For parents, the key takeaway is that Adams City graduates its students at a respectable rate, but the urgent work ahead lies in improving attendance and instructional quality so that a diploma reflects genuine readiness for college or career.