Sterling High School

Sterling High School is a mid-sized public high school in Sterling, Colorado, a small city on the eastern plains, serving 421 students in grades 9–12 within School District No. Re-1 Valley. The school has historically been a reliable, average performer in the state, but recent years have brought a sharp decline. From 2012 through 2023, Sterling High School consistently ranked in the 51st–59th percentile in Colorado and earned 3 stars, but it has since fallen to the 25th percentile (255th out of 338 high schools) and now holds just 1 star. About 44 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and the student-teacher ratio is 15.5:1.

The most glaring academic concern is math. Only 16 percent of the school's 9th graders were proficient in PSAT9 math in 2024–2025, compared to 38 percent statewide. That improved to 27 percent in 2025–2026 but still trails the state average of 40 percent and both nearby schools: Caliche Junior-Senior High School posted 42 percent proficiency and Merino Junior Senior High School reached 58 percent. Reading and writing are closer to average but remain below state levels, with 52 percent of the school's 9th graders proficient compared to 66 percent statewide. Caliche, in the same district with a similar poverty rate, now ranks in the 54th percentile—29 points higher—while Merino, in School District No. Re-4 Buffalo, ranks in the 64th percentile.

Despite these academic struggles, the school has real strengths. Its graduation rate reached 93.8 percent in 2024–2025, well above the state's 85.6 percent, and its dropout rate fell to 0.8 percent—half the statewide figure. Chronic absenteeism, however, jumped from 19.2 percent to 27.3 percent in a single year, a trend that may be pulling test scores down. Both of the school's major student groups rank in the bottom quarter of Colorado high schools, with White students in the bottom 5 percent. The clearest levers for improvement are strengthening math instruction, tackling absenteeism, and exploring what makes Caliche Junior-Senior High School successful, including its much smaller class sizes of 9.1 students per teacher versus the school's 15.5.