Grade Shift
Colorado Now Has 17,500 More Seniors Than Kindergartners
Colorado's K-to-12th grade ratio collapsed from 105 to 77 in a decade, with 61% of districts now graduating more seniors than they enroll in kindergarten.
Colorado
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Colorado, grounded in Colorado Department of Education data.
Denver LEP Chronic Absenteeism Surged 3 Points as ICE Fears Spread
Chronic absenteeism among Denver's LEP students jumped to 44.2% in 2024-25, the sharpest increase among any subgroup except students who are currently homeless, as the district pointed to immigration enforcement as a factor.
Denver Worsened While Aurora Quietly Improved: A Tale of Two Urban Districts
Denver's chronic absenteeism reversed course in 2024-25 while neighboring Aurora kept improving for a third straight year, narrowing a gap that once seemed structural.
Colorado's K-2 Students Improved Attendance in 2024-25 While Every High School Grade Slipped Past 30%
Colorado's chronic absenteeism climbs from 23% in elementary to 41% in 12th grade. K-2 rates improved in 2024-25 while all four high school grades worsened.
Most Colorado Native American Students Are in Class. Douglas County Shows the Rate Can Be Much Higher.
More than half of Colorado's Native American students attended regularly in 2024-25, but the 45.3% chronic-absence rate worsened faster than any other group's. A handful of districts, led by Douglas County at 23%, point to what's working.
More Coverage
Absence
Only 19 of 93 Colorado Districts Have Recovered to Pre-COVID Absence Levels
Five years after the pandemic, fewer than one in five measurable Colorado districts have chronic absenteeism rates at or below their 2019-20 levels, with most large districts still well above baseline.
District Spotlight
The District That Never Stopped Growing
Weld RE-4 in Windsor has grown every year for 11 straight years, the only Colorado district with an unbroken streak, adding 3,781 students as the state shrank.
District Spotlight
How Garfield Re-2 Cut Chronic Absenteeism From 55% to 18%
A Western Slope district of 4,641 students posted one of Colorado's most dramatic attendance turnarounds, dropping from the state's worst large-district rate to well below average in four years.
Demographics
One in 18 Colorado Students Now Identifies as Multiracial
Multiracial enrollment surged 41% in a decade, adding 14,096 students even as Colorado's schools shrank. The category now outnumbers Black students statewide.
Equity
Three in Four Denver Homeless Students Are Chronically Absent
Denver Public Schools' student who is currently homeless chronic absenteeism rate hit 76.2% in 2024-25, worsening by 5 points as the district's equity gaps widened across nearly every subgroup.
Enrollment
Six Suburban Giants All Hit Record Lows
Denver's six largest suburban districts have lost a combined 35,776 students from their peaks. All six hit all-time lows in 2025-26.
District Spotlight
Colorado Springs D11: From 29% to 46% Chronic Absenteeism in a Single Year
Colorado Springs District 11 saw chronic absenteeism surge 16.6 percentage points in one year, the largest swing among any large Colorado district, with more than half of Black and Hispanic students now chronically absent.
Absence
Colorado's Attendance Recovery Just Reversed. The State's 2028 Goal Is Now Unreachable.
After two years of accelerating improvement, Colorado's chronic absenteeism rate ticked back up to 28.5% in 2025, putting the state's goal of 15% by 2027-28 out of reach.
Demographics
Native American Enrollment Falls 22% in Colorado, Steepest of Any Group
Native American students in Colorado public schools dropped from 6,420 to 4,974 over 11 years, declining nearly twice as fast as white enrollment.
School Choice
Colorado's Charter Sector Hits a Wall at 16%
Colorado's charter schools doubled their market share in a decade, but growth has collapsed to 0.3%, raising questions about the sector's ceiling.
