Colorado School District Hits All-Time Academic High

The Garfield Re-2 School District in Colorado just made history by earning its highest academic performance score ever and achieving something no other district in the state has managed this year.

For the first time, every single high school and middle school in the district earned "accredited" status from Colorado's Department of Education. That includes Rifle High School, Coal Ridge High School, Rifle Middle School, and Riverside Middle School.

The district scored 59.7% of possible points, marking steady improvement since 2022 when leaders launched a strategic plan. Elementary Curriculum Director Simone Richardson and Secondary Curriculum Director Jacob Pingel presented the results to the school board Wednesday, barely containing their excitement.

"Every year since the implementation of our strategic plan, we have continued to grow," Pingel told board members. The district outscored its neighbor Roaring Fork Re-1 for the first time ever, a fact Richardson shared with a proud smile.

The improvements showed up everywhere. High school SAT scores jumped in both English and math. More importantly, those gains included students receiving free or reduced lunch, minority students, and multilingual learners. The number of students with disabilities taking the SAT increased by 28%.

The district improved across all three state assessment categories. Post-secondary readiness scores rose from 64.4 to 66.3. Academic growth jumped 4.2 points. Even academic achievement climbed from 44.7 to 46.8.

Only three Colorado districts with multiple high schools and middle schools managed to get all their secondary schools accredited this year. Garfield Re-2 was the only one that saw growth across every single school.

The Ripple Effect

The secret sauce? Listening to families and community members about what kids actually need. "That to me is a testament to not only the hard work that all of our staff do and all of our kids have put in, but the willingness for this school district to embrace the community as an influential voice," Pingel said.

The district isn't stopping here. Elementary schools plan to focus more support on English language learners next year, since many of those students overlap with other groups needing extra help. Leaders acknowledge that adopting new math and language arts curriculums may have created some growing pains, but they're committed to the long game.

Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Nipper reminded everyone that test scores tell an important story but not the complete one. "When you look at the totality of our kids and our graduates, you can see that there is a lot of high quality," she said.

Four years of listening, planning, and steady work just proved that rural school districts can compete with anyone when they put their community first.