Total enrollment
90,471
+2,600 (+3%) vs SY 2020-21
204 schools in Denver Public Schools
Colorado · 90,471 students · 1 city
For families inside Denver Public Schools, public-school options total 204 K-12 schools, with enrollment near 90,471 (113 elementary, 30 middle, and 54 high).
4-year change in Denver Public Schools
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25School count
198
-1 (-1%) vs SY 2020-21
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, enrollment-weighted demographic averages
How Denver Public Schools ranks
Among districts| Measure | This district | In Colorado | In the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 32.0% | #39 of 70 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 90,471 | #1 of 95 | #32 of 9,234 |
| Number of schools ranked most first | 198 | #1 of 95 | N/A |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.2:1 | #45 of 95 | #5,671 of 9,044 |
| Free or reduced-price lunch share ranked highest first | 62.8% | #21 of 94 | #2,557 of 8,164 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.1% | #7 of 68 | #1,115 of 6,853 |
Districts need at least 2 schools and 500 students to be ranked. Test proficiency is ranked within the state only, since each state gives a different test. Each rank links to the full list.
Inside Denver Public Schools
State test results across the district's 166 scored schools run from Polaris Elementary School at 93.5% proficient to Abraham Lincoln High School at 3.8%, a gap of 89.7 points. That is the widest gap among 55 Colorado districts with four or more scored schools.
Since 2017-18, the 189 district schools that reported both years went from 87,481 to 87,867 students (unchanged) and from 5,707 to 5,770 full-time teachers (up 1%), as of 2024-25.
Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across each school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25; schools with fewer than 100 students and schools serving specialized populations are left out. Staffing figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data and count only schools that reported students and teachers in both years.
About Denver Public Schools
Denver Public Schools is a sprawling Colorado school district running 204 schools with combined enrollment near 90,471.
On the school-mix side, Denver Public Schools consists of 113 elementary, 30 middle, 54 high schools, and 7 combined or other.
Trend over the past 4 years. Total public-school enrollment in Denver Public Schools has grew 3% since SY 2020-21, moving from about 87,871 students to 90,471. Denver Public Schools now counts 198 public schools, down from 199 in SY 2020-21.
Within the allk12 community for this area, the community for Denver Public Schools discusses school events, board meetings, and seasonal calendars. Discussions cut across districts, schools, and grade levels.