The transition from middle to high school is an exciting and challenging time for students, one which sees them taking on more advanced courses, exploring new hobbies, and beginning to think seriously about their future, and what they want to do with it. The right high school can aid greatly in all of these pursuits, and set students on a path towards long-term success. Of course, knowing which high school is best for your needs is often a challenge. To assist with this, we work with students and parents to help them evaluate their choices, and see which schools will best meet their unique needs. In this article, we’re going to be going over some of the best high schools in and around Denver, Colorado. We can’t cover every school, but our goal is to give you an introduction to your options, so you have an idea of what’s available to you. Let’s jump right in!
A Note on School Choice in Denver
Denver is regularly ranked as one of the best school districts in the country when it comes to school choice. This is because almost every school in the district may be applied to and attended by almost any student. Of course; there isn’t room for every student at every school, but there is significant flexibility in choosing where to attend.
This system makes use of a single application; this must be completed in February, and allows you to rank schools by order of preference. Once the administration has all of these, they assign students to schools based on those preferences, and school’s admissions priorities and available space. The goal is to allow as many students as possible to attend their top choice public high school.
A significant percentage of students still end up attending their zoned neighborhood school, but the ability to consider other options is excellent. Note that this only applies to students living within the bounds of the Denver Public Schools district; other districts have their own policies. Private schools, as always, have their own admissions considerations.
Note that this level of flexibility exists for all the schools in Denver, not just high schools.
The Best Private High Schools in Denver
Here are some of the best private high schools in and around Denver. This isn’t every high school of course, and Denver is a smaller metro area, with slightly fewer private schools than you might find in New York or LA. Still, there are some excellent options.
This is a private, co-ed, secular day school serving grade 6 through 12, and is located in Cherry Hills Village, a suburb of Denver. It serves approximately 740 students, and offers an intensive, college-preparatory curriculum. A notable part of this is the career intern experience. During their senior year, students take part in a three week internship in the Denver metro area. This takes place during the school day, with seniors working six hours per day. Seniors may choose to complete an independent project instead, but must do one of these in order to graduate.
Kent offers a full suite of AP courses, alongside their own honors track programs. Students are required to take part in either a sport or a performance art in order to graduate. Students must also complete 80 hours of community service, 40 of which must be with the same organization. The average SAT score at Kent is 1400, and the average ACT is 32.
Tuition at Kent is $41,190 annually; this does not vary by grade level. There is some need-based financial aid available. Applications to Kent open in September, and are due by the end of January. Applications must be done online, through their site. These require the application form, along with a family interview and a student visit to campus. They also require a student essay, a parent essay, either ISEE or SSAT scores, four letters of recommendation (principal or administrator, current math teacher, current English teacher, and another current teacher), and a transcript.
Located in the Lakewood neighborhood of Denver, Colorado Academy is a private, co-ed, secular day school, serving students in grades pre-K through 12. It serves approximately 965 students, and has a student:teacher ratio of 9:1. It offers a college-preparatory curriculum, with a full suite of advanced and AP coursework. Their graduation requirements also include athletic participation and completion of community service hours.
In addition to AP courses, Colorado Academy also offers Advanced Studies and Research courses. These are high level electives, and are meant to emulate college level coursework, allowing students to explore topics they otherwise wouldn’t. These also allow students to participate in independent research projects. The average SAT score is 1380, and the average ACT score is 31.
Tuition at Colorado Academy is $41,550, though this varies by grade level. There is some need-based aid available. Applications to the academy must be done online; this begins with a student form, and then continues through their own application portal. This requires the online form, a video submission, a visit (including an interview and writing reflection), transcripts, three letters of recommendation (from your current math and English teachers, and principal; with optional athletic or arts letters if relevant to you), ISEE or SSAT test scores, a parent form, and an optional parent tour.
This is a Catholic day school serving students in grades pre-K through 12. It is co-ed for elementary and middle school, but is a girls-only school for high school. It is located in Cherry Hills Village, a suburb of Denver. Note that St. Mary’s is a Catholic school, and four years of theology courses are required to graduate. You do not need to be Catholic to apply to attend, but Catholic thinking does greatly influence the school’s culture and atmosphere.
St. Mary’s offers a full college-preparatory curriculum. This includes 26 AP courses, along with a number of other advanced courses, including some options in engineering, business, computer science, and biology. Students must also complete at least 100 hours of community service prior to graduation. The average SAT score at St. Mary’s is 1290, and the average ACT score is 29.
Tuition at St. Mary’s is $29,775, though this does vary by grade level. There is some need-based aid available. Applications are submitted online. Note that applications to the high school are primarily for students entering grade 9; applications to other grades are based entirely on whether there are any seats available. Applications are due in December, and require an online form, a student essay, a parent interview, a student visit, the High School Placement Test (HSPT), three letters of recommendation (principal or administrator, math teacher, English or history teacher), and a transcript. Admissions decisions go out in February.
By Ben Bocko – Dawson School, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39684913
This is a private, co-ed, secular, day school located in Lafayette, Colorado, which is a bit of a commute from Denver. It serves children in grades K-12, and has approximately 520 students, with a student:teacher ratio of 7:1. They offer a full college-preparatory curriculum, including a suite of AP courses, and a large number of their own advanced courses for students to take advantage of. They offer a significant number of computer science and technology courses. The average SAT score at Dawson is 1340, and the average ACT score is 31.
Tuition at Dawson is $37,688, though this varies by grade level. There is some need-based aid available. Applications must be submitted online, and open in the fall the year before you intend to enter the school. Applications require an online form, three letters of recommendation (principal, math teacher, and English teacher), and your transcripts. International applicants must submit a TOEFL score.
The Best Public Schools in and Around Denver
Now that we’ve reviewed private schools, we’ll look at some of the top rated public schools, both within Denver itself, and in some of the surrounding suburbs.
Located in Greenwood Village, a suburb of Denver, Cherry Creek High School (or CCHS) is the largest and oldest high school in the Cherry Creek School District. It serves approximately 3,830 students, with a student:teacher ratio of 20:1. The school sits on a large campus, meant to evoke a college-like feel; this is in part by necessity, due to the size of the student body. CCHS is a non-selective high school; the only requirement for admission is to be zoned to the school.
CCHS offers a range of advanced and college preparatory coursework. They offer 33 AP courses; many students participate, and the vast majority of those that do score 3 or higher on the exam. They offer a number of concurrent enrollment courses in partnership with Arapahoe Community College; these include core academic subjects and a number of courses related to business. They also offer a number of their own honors courses which go beyond APs in subject matter. The average SAT score is 1330, and the average ACT score is a 30.
D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School
CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1088092
Located near Lakewood Colorado (a suburb of Denver), D’Evelyn is part of the Jefferson County school district. Due to its history, D’Evelyn is somewhat unique in terms of how it functions. It was intended to be a charter school, but the charter application was denied, and it was instead founded as a choice school. 40% of the students are those who graduate from their feeder elementary school, Dennison; the other 60% are chosen via random lottery. The lottery does offer sibling priority. You must live in Jefferson County and enroll online to take part in this lottery.
D’Evelyn is a junior/senior high school, and so serves students in grades 6-12. It is home to approximately 1,200 students, with a student:teacher ratio of 21:1. Their curriculum is college-preparatory, and focuses on a liberal arts method of preparing students for a broad range of academic investigations. They offer a suite of AP courses, though fewer than some other high schools; in large part this is due to their size. They do offer a range of other advanced and honors coursework. This includes concurrent and dual enrollment programs, which allow students to earn college credit while still in high school. They also offer an executive internship program, which allows students to gain real-world experience in a range of careers, and earn credit while doing so. The average SAT score is 1340, and the average ACT is 31.
By Supersonic3212 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18178038
Located in Aurora, Colorado, Grandview is part of the Cherry Creek School District, and enrolls approximately 2,760 students, with a student:teacher ratio of 18:1. They are not a selective enrollment school; attendance is based entirely on where you live. They offer an advanced academic curriculum, including 33 AP courses. They also offer a significant number of concurrent enrollment courses; they have partnered with both the Community College of Aurora and Arapahoe Community College to offer these.
Note that the only AP course that freshmen can enroll in is Human Geography, and this requires express permission to do. That said, there are also plenty of honors courses open to freshmen. Students may take business courses to fulfill their arts requirement; Grandview offers a reasonable number of these. They also offer a STEM certificate program; this is explicitly aimed at students who wish to study a STEM subject in college, and who want to get a jump on preparing for that now. The average SAT score at Grandview is 1096, the average ACT is 28.
By Covisp – Shot photograph on my way to an event at East High School, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21443730
Located on the East side of Denver (as you might expect from the name), East is one of four original high schools in Denver (alongside North, South, and West; they had a theme in mind). It currently serves approximately 2,360 students, and has a student:teacher ratio of 19:1. It is primarily a neighborhood school, but as with every other high school in the Denver Public Schools district, can be attended by any student in the district.
East offers a full range of advanced coursework, including 30 AP courses. Freshmen may not take AP courses; sophomores are limited in the AP courses they can sign up for, but juniors and seniors can take any number which fit into their schedule. They offer a dual enrollment program which allows students to take community college courses for credit as well. The average SAT score at East is 1082, and the average ACT score is 28.
Final Thoughts
Denver is not the largest metro area in the country, but it boasts a vibrant and well-constituted school system, with excellent public, private, and charter school options. While we couldn’t detail every school in Denver here, we hope that this has given you a good sense of the options available to you, and showed you which might best fit with your own needs. Each school is unique, with its own strengths to commend it.
Each student is unique as well, and the needs and exigencies of your own situation may require some special care when navigating the transition to high school. That’s where Ivy Scholars can help. We specialize in meeting students where they are, and helping them analyze all options available to them, so they can find the ones that will best support them and their goals. Schedule a free consultation today to learn how we can help you on your own academic journey; we’re always happy to hear from you.
