Summary:
Zip code 80461 in Leadville, Colorado, is home to 2 high schools: Lake County High School and Cloud City High School, serving grades 7–12 and 9–12 respectively under Lake County School District No. R-1. The district ranks in the 4th percentile statewide, which sets a challenging context for both schools.
Lake County High School is the larger school with 389 students and serves as the main academic barometer for the area. It has a very strong graduation rate of 95.2%, far above the state average of 85.6%. However, test scores are consistently well below state averages — only 23% proficient in ELA and 17.7% in math versus 44.7% and 37.3% statewide respectively. Chronic absenteeism is a serious concern at 43.1%, meaning roughly 168 students are chronically absent. The school ranks in the bottom quarter of Colorado high schools, though it has shown slight improvement, moving from the 11th to the 21st percentile in recent years.
Cloud City High School is a much smaller school with just 35 students, and it appears to serve a more at-risk population. It has a very high poverty rate (80% free/reduced lunch), a graduation rate of only 55.0%, and a dropout rate of 4.5% — nearly triple the state rate. With a lower student–teacher ratio of 11.6 versus Lake County's 15.0, Cloud City offers smaller classes but sees far lower outcomes. No standardized test scores or school rankings are reported, likely due to its small size or alternative education model. In short, residents see two very different schools: Lake County offers high graduation but low proficiency and significant absenteeism, while Cloud City serves students needing extra support with much lower overall success metrics.
Thank you for your feedback!