Summary:
ZIP code 80514, covering the Frederick and Dacono area of Colorado, contains two schools serving very different grade spans: Frederick Senior High School, a large high school of 1,491 students in grades 9–12, and Kenneth Homyak Pk-8, a small combined elementary and middle school of 311 students in grades PK–8. The two schools belong to different districts—St. Vrain Valley School District No. Re1J, a 4-star district ranked 23rd in the state, and Weld Re-8 Schools—and there is no standalone middle school in the ZIP code.
Despite being in a district with test scores far below state averages, Kenneth Homyak Pk-8 is the clear academic standout. Its proficiency rates are consistently double or triple the district average and often exceed the state: 53% proficient in ELA versus 44.7% statewide, 48.6% in math versus 37.3% statewide, and an exceptional 75% proficiency in 8th grade math. Frederick Senior High, by contrast, sits right at the state median overall but posts an outstanding 96.6% graduation rate versus 85.6% statewide, paired with a troubling 40.3% chronic absenteeism rate—far worse than the state average of 28.4%.
The contrast between the two schools is stark across nearly every metric. Kenneth Homyak is small with a 15:1 student-teacher ratio, low poverty (18.65% free/reduced lunch), and low chronic absenteeism at 12%, while Frederick Senior High is large with a 22.4:1 ratio, higher poverty at 40.64%, and an absenteeism crisis. Math is Frederick's clear weakness—SAT math proficiency is just 24% versus 32% statewide—while Kenneth Homyak's upper-grade STEM program appears exceptionally strong. Parents in this ZIP code face two very different options: a high-performing, relationship-rich PK-8 school and a large high school with strong graduation outcomes but persistent absenteeism and math challenges.
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