Vision Charter Academy

Vision Charter Academy in Delta, Colorado, is an alternative public school serving 311 students in grades K-12 within Delta County Joint District No. 50. Its most remarkable feature is attendance: the chronic absenteeism rate was just 3.4% in 2024-25, compared to 26.1% for the district, 28.4% for the state, and 23.9% at nearby Peak Virtual Academy, an alternative K-12 school in Montrose about 19 miles away. Even the prior year's 7.8% rate was dramatically lower than its district's 27.5%. One trend to watch is the student-teacher ratio, which has risen from 12.8 to 19.2 over the past three years — now nearly identical to Peak Virtual's 19.0.

Academically, the picture is mixed. Vision's 11th graders shine: 81% were proficient on SAT Reading/Writing — well above the 60% statewide — and 43.8% scored proficient on CMAS Science, nearly double the district's 24.2%. Peak Virtual posts a similar science result at 42.9%. However, all-grade CMAS proficiency trails its district and state: 33.6% in ELA and 17.8% in math, compared with Peak Virtual's 55.1% and 33.6%. Grade-level results swing sharply — 5th-grade ELA was 16.7%, while 6th grade reached 48.0% — and with only 311 students spread across 13 grades, small cohort sizes make these percentages volatile.

Graduation rates have been uneven as well. After three years in the low-to-mid 80s, Vision's 2024-25 rate dropped to 65.0%, well below the district's 87.8% and Peak Virtual's most recent 90.0%. On the positive side, the dropout rate improved to 1.3%, below the state's 1.6% and nearly matching its district's 1.2%. For parents, Vision Charter Academy is best understood as a distinct alternative pathway within a well-regarded district — a school that keeps students engaged and produces strong outcomes by 11th grade, even if overall test scores don't fully capture that success. With such a small student body, it's wise to weigh multi-year trends rather than any single year's numbers.