Mancos High School

Mancos High School is a small rural high school in Mancos, Colorado, serving 142 students in grades 9-12 within the Mancos School District Re-6. The school earned a 2-star rating and ranked 225th out of 338 Colorado high schools in 2025-2026, placing it in the 33rd percentile—an improvement from the previous year but a notable decline from its 4-star, 81st-percentile ranking about a decade ago.

Despite modest test rankings, Mancos posts strong completion numbers. Its 2024-2025 graduation rate of 90.6% exceeds the state average of 85.6% and outpaces nearby Montezuma-Cortez High School (87.0%), Dolores High School (82.8%), and Southwest Open Charter School (34.3%). The dropout rate is also impressively low at 0.6%. However, chronic absenteeism is a major concern: 62.2% of students were chronically absent in 2024-2025, more than double the state rate of 28.4% and a sharp jump from 46.2% the year before. This is the highest rate among traditional schools in the area, well above Dolores (38.2%) and Montezuma-Cortez (38.3%).

Academically, math is the school's clearest weakness. Only 12% of 11th graders were proficient on the SAT math exam in 2025-2026, compared with 32% statewide. Reading and writing scores are closer to state averages, with 9th graders actually exceeding the state proficiency rate (69% vs. 66%). Compared with Dolores—the closest comparable school—Mancos has a stronger graduation rate but lower test scores and a less favorable 15:1 student-teacher ratio (Dolores has 11.5:1). Mancos also serves a more economically advantaged population, with only 29.6% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch versus 48.4% at Dolores and 57.5% at Montezuma-Cortez. With just 142 students, year-to-year metrics can swing dramatically, but the persistent math struggles and rising absenteeism are patterns worth watching closely.