Canon City Middle School

Canon City Middle School is a public middle school in Canon City, CO, serving 382 students in grades 6–8 as part of the Fremont Re-1 district. In the 2025–2026 school year, the school earned its best state ranking in at least a decade: 227th out of 469 Colorado middle schools (52nd percentile, 3 stars) — a meaningful improvement from recent years when it consistently ranked in the 36th–47th percentile with a 2-star rating. With 53.1% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, this upward trajectory is especially noteworthy. There are no other schools within 20 miles, so the most useful comparisons are to district and statewide averages.

The school's biggest academic strength is English Language Arts, where 44% of students are proficient — nearly matching the state average of 44.7%. Eighth grade ELA is a standout at 51.4% proficiency, well above the state's 42.2%. Science scores also jumped dramatically, with 8th grade proficiency climbing from 23.6% to 33.9% in one year, bringing the school nearly to the state average. The school also shines in serving economically disadvantaged students: low-income students rank in the 61st percentile statewide, better than the school's overall ranking, suggesting strong support for the majority of students who qualify for free/reduced lunch. Chronic absenteeism has improved to 22.3%, now below both the district (23.2%) and state (28.4%) averages.

Math remains the clearest challenge, with only 25.6% of students proficient versus 37.3% statewide — a roughly 12-point gap. While math scores have improved steadily from 18.6% in 2022–2023, every grade level still lags the state. The school also shows a striking grade-level pattern in ELA: 7th grade proficiency (36.8%) trails the state by nearly 10 points, while 8th grade exceeds it by nearly that much. One other data point school leaders may want to examine is that outcomes for White students rank in the 23rd percentile statewide, notably lower than the school's overall 52nd percentile — an area that may reveal unevenness in how different groups of students are served. Overall, Canon City Middle School is a school on the rise, with real strengths in reading, science, and support for low-income students, but closing the math gap will be central to sustaining its momentum.