Rangely Junior/Senior High School

Rangely Junior/Senior High School serves 249 students in grades 6 through 12 in Rangely, Colorado, a small rural town in northwestern Colorado, and is part of the Rangely School District RE4. With no other schools within 20 miles, this summary uses Colorado state averages as benchmarks. The school's biggest strength is keeping students on track to graduate. Its graduation rate reached 97.4% in 2024–2025, well above the state average of 85.6%. Dropout rates are also very low, at times reaching 0.0%. Chronic absenteeism, while still affecting about one in four students, is below the state average. A favorable student-to-teacher ratio of 12.8 means students have access to relatively small class sizes.

The main challenge is academic proficiency. Test scores trail state averages in nearly every subject. Only 24.2% of students scored proficient in CMAS English Language Arts, compared to 44.7% statewide, while math proficiency was just 17.4% versus 37.3% statewide. Math is the school's most consistent weakness across all grade levels and test types. On the SAT, only 8–11% of 11th graders reached math proficiency in recent years, compared to roughly 31–35% statewide. Reading and writing scores are closer to state averages, especially on the PSAT 9, where students were nearly on par with the state. Science scores have fluctuated, with 8th grade proficiency ranging from 9.8% to 27.6%.

Outcomes vary by student group. Female students have generally outperformed male students, who have consistently received lower effectiveness ratings. Economically disadvantaged students showed notable improvement, jumping from the 18th percentile statewide in 2023–2024 to the 55th percentile in 2024–2025. Because the school is small, test scores can swing dramatically from year to year, and a single class can shift the school's ranking. Rangely has declined from its past performance, dropping from the 60th percentile in 2016–2017 to roughly the 30th percentile today, though the most recent year showed a slight rebound. Overall, Rangely excels at graduating students but faces a clear opportunity to strengthen math instruction, particularly in middle school, to match its success in keeping students engaged through high school.