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Rodger Quist Middle School

Public Grades 6-8
303rd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 469 Colorado Middle Schools
Better than 35% of Colorado middle schools
Summary

Rodger Quist Middle School is a public middle school located in Thornton, Colorado, serving grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 844 students. The school is part of the School District 27J, which is ranked 85 out of 115 school districts in Colorado and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Rodger Quist Middle School consistently ranks in the bottom half of Colorado middle schools, with below-average performance on CMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success) tests across all grades and subjects. For example, in 2024-2025, the school's proficiency rates were 32.3% in ELA and 24.2% in Math, compared to the state averages of 44.8% and 35.9%, respectively. The school also experiences relatively high dropout rates, ranging from 1.3% to 2.2% over the past few years, and high chronic absenteeism rates, reaching up to 27.7% in recent years, significantly above the state average.

Comparing Rodger Quist Middle School to nearby schools within the same district, such as Overland Trail Middle School and Otho E. Stuart Middle School, as well as schools in the neighboring Adams 12 Five Star Schools district, like Rocky Top Middle School and Silver Hills Middle School, highlights the need for Rodger Quist Middle School to learn from and emulate the practices of higher-performing schools. Addressing the underlying factors contributing to the school's underperformance, such as socioeconomic disparities and student engagement, will be crucial in driving meaningful improvements.

855
Students ?
18.5
Student/teacher ratio ?
$11,977
Per pupil spending ?
38.6%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 13451 Yosemite Street
       Thornton, CO  80602-8326

(303) 655-6950

District: School District 27J


Students who attend Rodger Quist Middle School usually attend:

High:    Riverdale Ridge High School

Feeder schools for Rodger Quist Middle School:

Elementary:    Brantner Elementary School
    West Ridge Elementary
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
44.3%
White:
41.5%
Asian:
8.0%
more
 See top rated Colorado middle schools

 Compare Rodger Quist Middle School to nearby middle schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Holding steady — 38th percentile in 2019 → 35th in 2025
Strengths
Among the top-ranked schools in School District 27J
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Colorado average (29% vs 40% meeting standards)
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
!English Language Arts scores 13 pts below the Colorado average
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school29%
District avg28%
Colorado avg40%
303rd of 469
Colorado public middle schools ?
Bottom 35%▼ down 2 pts since 2019
See the entire ranking list of Colorado Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
1st of 5Middle Schools in the School District 27J
85th of 115School District 27J among Colorado districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202531.6303 of 46935.4%★★☆☆☆
202427.9324 of 48533.2%★★☆☆☆
202330.1311 of 48035.2%★★☆☆☆
202227.0305 of 44831.9%★★☆☆☆
202122.9302 of 36918.2%★☆☆☆☆
201934.6285 of 45837.8%★★☆☆☆

Asian

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
20252.626 of 260.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20242.721 of 210.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20236.918 of 180.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20227.715 of 150.0%☆☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202526.3248 of 34728.5%★☆☆☆☆
202424.2253 of 35027.7%★☆☆☆☆
202323.8260 of 36328.4%★☆☆☆☆
202224.2239 of 32626.7%★☆☆☆☆
202116.5234 of 2547.9%☆☆☆☆☆
201929.5243 of 35231.0%★★☆☆☆

Gifted and Talented

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202539.4100 of 13224.2%★☆☆☆☆
202439.196 of 12623.8%★☆☆☆☆
202233.877 of 9317.2%★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202532.9146 of 21833.0%★★☆☆☆
202425.0156 of 19921.6%★☆☆☆☆
202330.5135 of 19831.8%★★☆☆☆
202224.8130 of 16923.1%★☆☆☆☆
202125.569 of 8316.9%★☆☆☆☆
201938.3129 of 22041.4%★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202538.0145 of 24139.8%★★☆☆☆
202426.4190 of 24422.1%★☆☆☆☆
202333.5155 of 24135.7%★★☆☆☆
202234.1124 of 19737.1%★★☆☆☆
202149.546 of 11459.6%★★★☆☆
201936.0151 of 24037.1%★★☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202528.0251 of 35228.7%★☆☆☆☆
202423.9263 of 35726.3%★☆☆☆☆
202328.8232 of 35634.8%★★☆☆☆
202221.8244 of 32825.6%★☆☆☆☆
202121.5215 of 24913.7%★☆☆☆☆
201934.2213 of 34337.9%★★☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202518.0232 of 27515.6%★☆☆☆☆
202416.1230 of 27315.8%★☆☆☆☆
202313.9256 of 28610.5%★☆☆☆☆
202211.2242 of 2658.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20219.0197 of 2033.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201917.1240 of 28315.2%★☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)40th percentile+4 vs school
Hispanic (2025)33rd percentile~ school
Male (2025)29th percentile-7 vs school
Female (2025)29th percentile-7 vs school
Gifted and Talented (2025)24th percentile-11 vs school
White (2025)16th percentile-20 vs school
Asian (2025)<1st percentile-35 vs school
By subject vs Colorado (2024-2025) ?
Science32%-4 vs state
English Language Arts32%-13 vs state
Math24%-12 vs state

3.7
3 ratings · 3 written reviews
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What people are saying
by a citizen
Saturday, February 5, 2022

Open Quote The teachers are excellent and have such dedication to the students. Close Quote


by a parent
Saturday, August 8, 2020

Open Quote The staff is amazing and the classes and options that they have are incredible. Close Quote


by a parent
Thursday, November 14, 2019

Open Quote This school is horrible. There is a culture of violence, racism, bullying and homophobia at this school. The principal, assistant principal and dean are all racist. The school is located in a small good ole boy town mentality bubble, that breeds , support , tolerates , minimizes and provokes racism and homophobia. The students are very violent so there is a subculture of jump mentality, fights being posted to social media and snitches get stitches mob mentality. Racial and homophobic slurs and bullying are a norm amongst students. Discipline is not administered fairly or evenly amongst all students. If you are a student of color , your more likely to get harassed, treated unfairly by staff by way of not believing or taking your side, minimizing offenses committed towards you and giving you harsher consequences than students of non- color. In less than a year my oldest son was suspended for 5 day over a petty non violent offense not involving another person, searched multiple times for drugs, so they racial profile in Riverdale High. My younger son was constantly challenged to fight , called racial and homophobic slurs , suspended twice and had his backpack spat all over on by a young inbred racist pig. All of this seemed to be the norm and well tolerated , even minimized and excused by all school staff. Needless to say I removed my kiddos before the school year even ended and ultimately removed them from the district altogether. These public schools are horrible and not good enough for my kids to attend. Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Rodger Quist Middle School

Rodger Quist Middle School ranks 303rd of 469 Colorado middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

In the 2024-25 school year, 855 students attended Rodger Quist Middle School.

Students who attend Rodger Quist Middle School usually go on to attend Riverdale Ridge High School

Students at Rodger Quist Middle School are 44% Hispanic, 42% White, 8% Asian, 4% Two or more races, 1% African American.


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

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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