Aspen High School

Aspen High School serves 559 students in grades 9–12 in Aspen, Colorado, and belongs to the Aspen School District No. 1, which ranks 4th out of 115 districts in the state. The school itself ranks 64th out of 338 Colorado high schools for 2025–2026, placing it in the 81st percentile with a 4-star rating — a strong result, though slightly below its pre-pandemic peak when it earned 5 stars and a 91st-percentile ranking.

Academically, Aspen is a standout. On the 11th-grade SAT, 86% of students are proficient in reading and writing, compared to 60% statewide, and 48% are proficient in math versus 32% statewide. These scores also far outpace nearby Basalt High School, where just 54% of 9th graders are proficient in reading on the PSAT9 compared to 81% at Aspen. The graduation rate is 97.9%, far above both the state average (85.6%) and Basalt's 84.2% rate, and the dropout rate is near zero. Class sizes are also smaller, with a student-teacher ratio of 12.5 compared to Basalt's 16.3. Aspen's gifted and talented program ranks 13th in the state, earning 5 stars, and the school also serves Hispanic students well, ranking at the 80th percentile statewide for that subgroup.

The one significant concern is chronic absenteeism. In 2024–2025, 47.7% of Aspen students were chronically absent — far above the state average of 28.4% and well above Basalt's 29.8%. The rate was even higher the prior year at 68.2%. This disconnect between elite academic performance and poor attendance is worth watching closely, as regular absences can eventually affect even the strongest outcomes. If attendance improves, Aspen's already impressive profile would become far more complete.