Cheraw School

Cheraw School is a small alternative public school in the rural community of Cheraw, Colorado, serving 209 students in grades PK-12 as the sole school within Cheraw School District No. 31. Despite its alternative designation, the school functions much like a comprehensive rural K-12 school, with about 46% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school's most impressive numbers are its graduation and dropout rates. In the most recent reporting years, Cheraw posted a 100% graduation rate and a 0% dropout rate, far better than Colorado's statewide averages of roughly 81% graduation and 2% dropout. Academically, the picture is mixed: overall ELA proficiency (32%) trails the state (45%), and overall math proficiency (33%) is close to the state (37%). However, 8th-grade results are extraordinary — 75% proficient in math and 62.5% in science, roughly double the state averages. One concern is chronic absenteeism, which sits at 36.3% versus the state's 28.4%, though it has been improving.

Compared to nearby Crowley County Virtual Education Academy in Ordway, Cheraw is the stronger school by far. Crowley posts a 71.4% graduation rate, an 8% dropout rate, and a 55.6% chronic absenteeism rate — all substantially worse than Cheraw — despite having a much lower student-to-teacher ratio (8.7 vs. 15.4). Cheraw's rising student-to-teacher ratio and below-average literacy scores are worth watching, but the school's ability to graduate nearly all of its students, including a large economically disadvantaged population, makes it a standout rural alternative school in Colorado.