Cherry Creek Elevation

CENTENNIAL · CO · Cherry Creek School District No. 5 in the county of Arapah · Public · K-12 combined

📄 Shareable scorecard →

📚AP rigor: 78th percentile nationally

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 7 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 4 calculus classes · 14 physics · 14 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 78th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 39% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 90% (Bottom 49% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

💡

How Cherry Creek Elevation compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 22% nationally with 7 AP courses.
  • LocallyCO students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Endeavor Academy, Ascent Classical Academy of Douglas County, Colorado's Finest High School of Choice and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

78th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
7
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
135
≈73 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
17
4 calculus · 13 advanced
Lab science classes
28
14 physics · 14 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program
✅ Gifted/talented program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 39% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
42
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
22.6
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

Bottom 49% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
90%
Range: 80–100%
4-year cohort size
30
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

🏛️ Your state's public flagship

University of Colorado Boulder

83%
admit rate
$15,666
in-state tuition/yr · $44,918 out-of-state
1230–1420
SAT 25–75 · ACT 28–33

The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $25,346/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full University of Colorado Boulder profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
52.8%
Well above the national average (~16%). At this level, chronic absence becomes a leading driver of enrollment loss as families rotate to other schools.
Students absent 15+ days
131
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
33:1
Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.
Counselor FTE
7.5
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
148
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 172 in 2021 to 58 in 2024 — over 3 years.
-66.3%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -27.4%/year, projecting from 2024's 248 students:

2025
180
2027
95
2029
50

≈ 198 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue at risk

At $14,742 per student in district revenue, the 198 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $2,918,916/year in funding at risk.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Endeavor Academy
CENTENNIAL
Public 0.5 262 +9.2%
Ascent Classical Academy of Douglas County
LONE TREE
Public · charter 3.8 125 +12.6%
Colorado's Finest High School of Choice
ENGLEWOOD
Public 9.6 216 -7.7%
Renaissance Secondary School
CASTLE ROCK
Public · charter 13.0 193 +18.4%
Eagle Academy
LONE TREE
Public 4.1 115 -8.7%
Vanguard Classical School - East
AURORA
Public · charter 8.2 133 -5.7%
Skyview Academy
HIGHLANDS RANCH
Public · charter 5.5 297 +10.4%
Lotus School for Excellence
AURORA
Public · charter 9.0 264 +2.3%

For Parents

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For School Admins looking at enrollment trends: request an Enrollment Trend Audit →