Dakota Ridge Senior High School

Dakota Ridge Senior High School, a roomy 9-12 campus in LITTLETON, Colorado, overseen by Jefferson County School District No. R-1, teaches 1,277 students, covering grades 9 through 12. By comparison, Colorado's public schools average about 627 students each, so Dakota Ridge Senior High School sits 104% larger than that benchmark.

Within Jefferson County School District No. R-1, which oversees 148 schools and 74,935 students, Dakota Ridge Senior High School is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Dakota Ridge Senior High School reports that the largest single group is White, at 69% of enrollment. Other groups include 19% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, 5% Asian. By comparison, Jefferson County as a whole is about 80% White, so the school skews meaningfully less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, The school currently runs with 66 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 19.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 16.9:1, putting Dakota Ridge Senior High School higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 24% of students at Dakota Ridge Senior High School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Jefferson County runs at roughly 32%, so the school's eligibility rate is below the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, Dakota Ridge Senior High School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 52.0%; this one delivers 40.3%.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Jefferson County put median household earnings sit near $110,656, 52% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 4%. Dakota Ridge Senior High School is one of 168 public schools in Jefferson County (combined enrollment of about 74,739 students).

Mount Carbon Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.8 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Dakota Ridge Senior High School comes 6th of 9 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 49.7%.

The school occupies a bedroom-community site.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Dakota Ridge Senior High School has contracted 18%, going from 1,553 students in 2018 to 1,277 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 74% to 69% across the same window.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. The community welcomes input from current and former families.