Southwest Open Charter School

Southwest Open Charter School is a public charter high school serving grades 9-12 in Cortez, Colorado, with a relatively small student population of 113 as of the 2022-2023 school year. The school is part of the Montezuma-Cortez School District No. Re-1, which is ranked 99 out of 115 school districts in Colorado and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Compared to the nearby Montezuma-Cortez High School, Southwest Open Charter School has a more diverse student population, with a higher percentage of Hispanic and Native American students. However, the school consistently ranks in the bottom quarter of Colorado high schools, with lower test scores in CMAS/Science and SAT/Reading and Writing than the district and state averages. Additionally, Southwest Open Charter School has a significantly higher percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch (72.57%) compared to Montezuma-Cortez High School (50.08%).

When comparing Southwest Open Charter School to other nearby high schools, such as Mancos High School and Dolores Secondary School, it becomes evident that Southwest Open Charter School is performing significantly worse academically. Both Mancos High School and Dolores Secondary School have higher statewide rankings and better test scores than Southwest Open Charter School. The lower student-teacher ratio at Southwest Open Charter School (9.7) compared to Montezuma-Cortez High School (17.9) suggests an opportunity for more individualized attention, but this advantage does not seem to be translating into better academic outcomes.