Summary:
Zip code 80026 in Lafayette, Colorado, contains two high schools — Centaurus High School (grades 9–12, 1,557 students) and Justice High Charter School (grades 6–12, 108 students) — both part of the highly rated Boulder Valley School District No. Re2, which ranks 5th of 115 districts in Colorado. Despite sharing a zip code and district, the two schools represent vastly different educational realities.
Centaurus High School is the clear academic standout. It currently ranks in the 87th percentile statewide with a 4-star rating, and its outcomes are well above state averages. Its graduation rate is 95.7% (statewide: 85.6%), its dropout rate is just 0.8%, and test scores are strong across the board: 81% proficient in SAT reading/writing, 56% in SAT math, and 62.5% in CMAS science — compared to 60%, 32%, and 24.8% statewide, respectively. One concern is attendance: 22.7% of students are chronically absent, above the district's 17.5%. Another is a consistent math-vs-reading gap, though it mirrors a statewide pattern.
Justice High Charter School faces far more serious challenges. Its free/reduced lunch rate is 89.81% versus 30.76% at Centaurus, and 52.9% of its students are chronically absent — roughly three times the district rate and nearly twice the state rate. Its graduation rate is just 61.3%, a 34-point gap compared to Centaurus. Notably, both schools have nearly identical student-teacher ratios (19.9 vs. 19.8), so staffing alone does not explain the disparity. Justice High also lacks recent ranking and test score data, making full evaluation difficult. These two schools illustrate how profoundly poverty, attendance, and school context can shape student success — even within the same zip code and district.
Thank you for your feedback!