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What's the state of after-school transportation at Colony High School?
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Enrollment
1,046
High
DISTRICT 468 · STATE 373
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 020051000711
Colony High School
9550 E Bogard Rd, Palmer, AK 99645 · (907) 861-5500 · Matanuska-Susitna Borough
GRADES 09–12HIGH41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL1,046 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
20.4:1
51 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 25.4:1 · STATE 17.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
31%
327 students
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 290 | 28% |
| Grade 10 | 316 | 30% |
| Grade 11 | 211 | 20% |
| Grade 12 | 229 | 22% |
Student demographics
52%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 51% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
AK STAR + Alaska Science 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
39.0%
AK avg 36.1% . -4.9pp since 2023
Math
22.0%
AK avg 34.6% . -6.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the AK STAR + Alaska Science, Alaska's statewide test, about 39 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 22 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alaska schools, those numbers are about 36 and 35. Reading and writing scores are down about 5 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 6 points.
AK STAR + Alaska Science results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 39.0% | 22.0% |
| 2023-24 | 43.9% | 28.0% |
% Advanced + Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: AK STAR + Alaska Science. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
36.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.6%
based on AK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 36% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 43% typical for Alaska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Alaska's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Colony High School
Colony High School's state test result (36.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colony High School this school | 1,046 | 31.3% | 36.2% |
| Wasilla High School Wasilla | 816 | 33.3% | 30.6% |
| Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High School Wasilla | 705 | 25.0% | 40.9% |
| Palmer High School Palmer | 616 | 34.9% | 29.3% |
| North Pole High School North Pole | 695 | 22.4% | 26.6% |
| Kenai Central High School Kenai | 525 | 36.0% | 29.8% |
Matched among Alaska high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Colony High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Alaska | In Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 36.2% | #13 of 39 | #2 of 7 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 22.0% | #23 of 43 ▼ 13 | #5 of 7 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.0% | #19 of 44 ▼ 9 | #3 of 7 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,046 | #6 of 72 | #1 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.4:1 | #32 of 38 | #8 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 51.8% | #25 of 38 | #6 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 31.3% | #27 of 45 | #7 of 8 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.7% | #20 of 28 | #5 of 6 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,046
+47 (+5%) vs 2020
+37% since 1990-91, when it was 764
Student : Teacher
20.4:1
was 20.0:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,046 | 51.2 | 20.4:1 | 31% (327) |
| 2023-24 | 1,092 | 53 | 20.6:1 | 28% (306) |
| 2022-23 | 1,117 | 55.5 | 20.1:1 | 29% (325) |
| 2020-21 | 999 | 50 | 20.0:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,121 | 50.5 | 22.2:1 | 26% (296) |
| 2015-16 | 1,127 | 48 | 23.5:1 | 23% (264) |
| 2010-11 | 1,204 | 60 | 20.1:1 | 21% (248) |
| 2000-01 | 1,099 | 48 | 22.9:1 | 11% (119) |
| 1990-91 | 764 | 37 | 20.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Colony High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (1,121 to 1,046); teachers up 1% (50.5 to 51.2).
About Colony High School
Palmer, Alaska, is home to Colony High School, a large high school. It is open to students in grades 9 through 12 and enrolls 1,046 students. High schools in Alaska have about 373 students on average; enrollment here is 180% higher.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District enrolls 19,495 students in 49 schools, including Colony High School.
More than half of enrollment at Colony High School is White: 67%. The next largest groups are 16% multiracial, 8% Hispanic, and 7% Native American. The school's White share is 10 points below the 77% share among Matanuska-Susitna Borough residents. The diversity index for Colony High School is 52%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The school had 51.2 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 20.4:1. The gap from the 17.0:1 average for high schools in Alaska is 3.5 students per teacher. The school reported 31% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. Among public schools in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the average eligibility rate is 45%.
Colony High School's actual average proficiency rate across its state test results (36.2%) and its predicted rate (42.6%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Alaska schools.
In Matanuska-Susitna Borough, home to about 112,988 people, median household income comes to about $94,031, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 24%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. Matanuska-Susitna Borough's 49 public schools enroll about 19,495 students and include Colony High School.
Colony Middle School, about 0.3 miles away, is the closest public school. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. By average proficiency, Colony High School is 5th among 6 schools close by.
Colony High School is coded as Rural: Fringe in federal locale data.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, Colony High School had a net gain of 47 students, or 5%.
People who know Colony High School can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
112,988
Census ACS
Median income
$94,031
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
24%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
49
19,495 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
- Mat-Su Central SchoolCombined · 2,780 students
- Wasilla High SchoolHigh · 816 students
- Colony Middle SchoolElementary · 771 students
- Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High SchoolHigh · 705 students
- Teeland Middle SchoolElementary · 643 students
- Palmer High SchoolHigh · 616 students
Other schools in Palmer
- Colony Middle SchoolElementary · 771 students
- Palmer High SchoolHigh · 616 students
- Palmer Middle SchoolMiddle · 563 students
- Pioneer Peak ElementaryElementary · 449 students
- Birchtree Charter SchoolElementary · 416 students
- Sherrod ElementaryElementary · 383 students
Other Colony High schools
One other US public school is named Colony High. Colony High School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Colony HighOntario, CA · 2,109 students
Nearby schools
- Colony Middle School0.3 mi · 771
- Pioneer Peak Elementary1.1 mi · 449
- Valley Pathways1.8 mi · 143
- Birchtree Charter School2.1 mi · 416
- Mat-Su Middle College School2.2 mi · 222
- Palmer High School2.5 mi · 616
Frequently asked questions
About Colony High SchoolHow many students attend Colony High School?
Colony High School enrolls approximately 1,046 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Colony High School serve?
Colony High School serves grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at Colony High School?
Approximately 20.4:1 students per teacher at Colony High School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Colony High School?
At Colony High School, the student body is approximately 67% White, 8% Hispanic, 0% Black, 1% Asian, 16% Two or more.
Is Colony High School public or private?
Colony High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.