Summary:
Zip code 80105 contains a single high school, Deer Trail Junior-Senior High School, a small combined middle and high school serving grades 6 through 12 with 153 students in the Deer Trail School District No. 26J. As the only high school in the area, its performance is compared against district and state averages rather than other local schools. The school operates as a true single-school district, meaning its successes and challenges define the entire district's performance in every metric.
Deer Trail Junior-Senior High School stands out for its strong non-academic indicators. The school posts a graduation rate of 88.9%, above the state average of 85.6%, and its dropout rate of 1.4% is lower than the state's 1.6%. Chronic absenteeism is a particular strength, at 18.6% compared to 28.4% statewide. The school also offers a low student-teacher ratio of 12.4, allowing for relatively small class sizes and more individualized attention. However, academic proficiency tells a different story. Only 29.5% of students are proficient in English Language Arts, compared to 44.7% statewide, and math proficiency is especially concerning at just 16.9% versus 35.9% statewide.
There are some encouraging signs. ELA proficiency improved from 21.7% to 29.5% between 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, suggesting instructional progress is underway. Yet math remains a major challenge, with 7th grade math proficiency at just 12% versus 32.9% statewide and PSAT 9 math proficiency at only 14% versus 40% statewide. Nearly 45.1% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, reflecting economic need in this rural community. The school's state ranking has slipped from the 16th percentile in 2022-2023 to the 11th percentile in 2025-2026, even as ELA scores improved, indicating that math performance heavily influences overall rankings. Overall, this small school keeps students engaged, enrolled, and graduating, but improving academic proficiency, particularly in mathematics, remains its biggest opportunity.
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