Summary:
Zip code 80301 in Boulder, Colorado, is served by a single public high school—Boulder Prep Charter High School—which enrolls 114 students in grades 9 through 12 and operates within the Boulder Valley School District No. Re2, a district ranked in the top 5% of Colorado districts. As the only high school in this zip code, Boulder Prep is the sole public option for local families, so its performance defines the high school experience for this area.
Boulder Prep's outcomes are deeply concerning compared with district and state benchmarks. The school's graduation rate of just 30.0% is far below the district's 93.3% and the state's 85.6%, a gap of more than 55 percentage points. Chronic absenteeism affects 54.5% of students—roughly double the state rate of 28.4% and more than triple the district rate of 17.5%. The dropout rate of 3.4% is more than twice the state average of 1.6%. On a positive note, the school maintains a favorable 10.2:1 student-teacher ratio, which suggests small classes and potential for individualized attention.
These metrics paint a picture of a school serving a high-need, at-risk student population that may have struggled in traditional settings. Historical rankings from SchoolDigger show Boulder Prep in the bottom 1% of Colorado high schools every year from 2011 to 2014, indicating this is not a recent trend but a long-standing pattern. The sharp contrast between the school's low outcomes and its district's top-tier status highlights an equity gap within the Boulder Valley School District No. Re2. For parents, this means that while the district overall is excellent, Boulder Prep faces serious challenges around attendance and graduation that a favorable student-teacher ratio alone has not solved. Families considering this school should look into its alternative programming, credit recovery options, and student support services, as the data suggests conventional measures of success remain a significant concern.
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