Best Public Schools in Zip Code 81648

Zip code 81648, serving the small, rural town of Rangely, Colorado, has just two public schools in the Rangely School District RE4: Parkview Elementary School (grades PK–5, 236 students) and Rangely Junior/Senior High School (grades 6–12, 249 students). With 485 students total and no standalone middle school or alternative options, this is a very small district — one ranked 86th of 115 in Colorado, placing it in the lower third of the state with a 1-star rating.

Compared side by side, Parkview Elementary School is the academic standout. Its all-grade ELA proficiency is 35.9% versus the district's 30.1%, and its math is 31.5% versus 24.5%. Most impressively, 5th graders exceed state averages in both ELA (52.8% vs. 49.9%) and math (41.7% vs. 39.3%) — despite a higher poverty rate (50.4% free/reduced lunch) than the high school. Rangely Junior/Senior High School, on the other hand, stands out for keeping students in school: a 97.4% graduation rate against the state's 85.6%, and a dropout rate of just 1.2%. But its academics are concerning: 24.2% ELA proficiency, 17.4% math proficiency, and only 25% proficiency on 11th-grade SAT reading/writing versus 60% statewide.

Key metrics show a clear academic drop-off between the elementary and secondary levels. Chronic absenteeism is 20.9% at Parkview and 23.9% at the high school — both below the state's 28.4%, but still meaning one in four high schoolers misses significant school. Student–teacher ratios are similar (12.4 and 12.8). Performance swings are common at this size, like Rangely's PSAT10 reading/writing jumping from 27% to 60% in one year, so multi-year trends matter more than single-year results. In short, the district shines at graduating students but faces a pressing need to strengthen secondary academics.