1
Enrollment
714
Middle
DISTRICT 928 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHERRY CREEK SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 080291001328
Horizon Middle School
3981 SOUTH RESERVOIR ROAD, AURORA, CO 80013 · (720) 886-6100 · Arapahoe County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL714 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 12% of Colorado public middle schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Colorado public middle schools
Student : Teacher
14.6:1
49 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.2:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
59%
424 students
DISTRICT 38% · STATE 50%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 252 | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 237 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 225 | 32% |
Student demographics
72%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 62% · 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
CMAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
28.0%
CO avg 44.9% . +1.9pp since 2023
Math
17.2%
CO avg 36.1% . +3.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 28 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 17 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Colorado schools, those numbers are about 45 and 36. Reading and writing scores are up about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 28.0% | 17.2% |
| 2023-24 | 26.1% | 13.4% |
% Met or Exceeded Expectations, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CMAS. 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
21.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
30.7%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 31% typical for Colorado 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 Colorado'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 Horizon Middle School
Horizon Middle School's state test result (21.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horizon Middle School this school | 714 | 59.4% | 21.6% |
| Hill Campus of Arts and Sciences DENVER | 651 | 51.9% | 28.5% |
| Hamilton Middle School DENVER | 775 | 67.4% | 18.9% |
| DSST: Cedar Middle School DENVER | 485 | 50.5% | 57.5% |
| Columbia Middle School AURORA | 636 | 75.6% | 19.2% |
| DSST: Conservatory Green Middle School DENVER | 468 | 68.8% | 25.3% |
Matched among Colorado middle 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 Horizon Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Arapahoe County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 21.6% | #176 of 241 | #15 of 22 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 17.2% | #170 of 244 ▲ 19 | #17 of 23 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 28.0% | #190 of 246 ▲ 2 | #17 of 23 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 714 | #54 of 278 | #13 of 24 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.6:1 | #71 of 227 | #3 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 71.7% | #3 of 227 | #3 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 59.4% | #89 of 246 | #8 of 23 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -25.5% | #52 of 169 | #6 of 18 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
714
-254 (-26%) vs 2020
-9% since 1990-91, when it was 782
Student : Teacher
14.6:1
was 19.8:1
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 | 714 | 49 | 14.6:1 | 59% (424) |
| 2023-24 | 732 | 50.9 | 14.4:1 | 64% (472) |
| 2022-23 | 812 | 48.1 | 16.9:1 | 58% (472) |
| 2020-21 | 968 | 49 | 19.8:1 | 56% (541) |
| 2017-18 | 958 | 55.2 | 17.3:1 | 54% (520) |
| 2015-16 | 998 | 54 | 18.5:1 | 55% (553) |
| 2010-11 | 968 | 55 | 17.6:1 | 44% (430) |
| 2000-01 | 1,308 | 79 | 16.6:1 | 14% (177) |
| 1990-91 | 782 | 48 | 16.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Horizon Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 25% (958 to 714); teachers down 11% (55.2 to 49).
About Horizon Middle School
Horizon Middle School is a high-enrollment middle-grades school in Colorado, with an address in AURORA. Enrolled students number 714 students, in grades 6 through 8. Statewide, middle schools in Colorado average about 462 students each.
Horizon Middle School is one of the 70 schools that make up Cherry Creek School District (52,099 students in total).
Hispanic students form the largest group at Horizon Middle School, 41% of enrollment. Enrollment also includes 28% White, 17% Black, 10% multiracial, and 3% Asian. Among people living in Arapahoe County, the Hispanic share is about 22%. The chance that two students picked at random at Horizon Middle School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 72%.
A ratio of 14.6:1 comes from the school's 49 full-time-equivalent teachers. The 15.9:1 average for middle schools in Colorado is higher than this school's figure. The lunch program counts 59% of students at Horizon Middle School as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The gap from the 50% average for public schools in Arapahoe County is 9 points.
Horizon Middle School is graded D by allk12, scoring above 12% of Colorado public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
The model predicts 30.7% for a school in Colorado with Horizon Middle School's free or reduced-price lunch share. Horizon Middle School posts 21.6%.
Arapahoe County has about 659,844 residents, and median household income is about $101,087, 47% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of people live in poverty. The public schools of Arapahoe County number 176 and enroll about 115,502.
The closest other public school is Summit Elementary School, about 0.3 miles away. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 21.6% is below the 26.1% average for nearby schools.
NCES assigns Horizon Middle School the locale City: Large, meaning inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment was 968 in 2020-21 and 714 in 2024-25, a decrease of 254 students. Federal data show the ratio falling from 19.8:1 to 14.6:1.
Discussion on this page can cover school safety, transportation, and start times. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Arapahoe County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
659,844
Census ACS
Median income
$101,087
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
47%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
176
115,502 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Cherry Creek School District
- Cherry Creek High SchoolHigh · 3,852 students
- Cherokee Trail High SchoolHigh · 3,089 students
- Eaglecrest High SchoolHigh · 2,851 students
- Grandview High SchoolHigh · 2,684 students
- Smoky Hill High SchoolHigh · 2,297 students
- Overland High SchoolHigh · 2,228 students
Other schools in AURORA
- Cherokee Trail High SchoolHigh · 3,089 students
- Grandview High SchoolHigh · 2,684 students
- Aurora Central CampusCombined · 2,468 students
- Smoky Hill High SchoolHigh · 2,297 students
- Overland High SchoolHigh · 2,228 students
- Rangeview High SchoolHigh · 2,078 students
Other Horizon Middle schools
8 other US public schools in 7 states are named Horizon Middle. Horizon Middle School is the 5th largest of the 9.
- Horizon Middle SchoolCOLORADO SPRINGS, CO · 773 students
- HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOLMOORHEAD, MN · 2,158 students
- HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOLBismarck, ND · 1,124 students
- HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOLKISSIMMEE, FL · 1,008 students
- Horizon Middle SchoolEL PASO, TX · 677 students
Nearby schools
- Summit Elementary School0.3 mi · 337
- Sunrise Elementary School0.8 mi · 497
- Cimarron Elementary School0.8 mi · 393
- The Journey Preschool0.9 mi · 75
- Meadow Point Elementary School1.2 mi · 401
- Aspen Crossing Elementary School1.3 mi · 569
Frequently asked questions
About Horizon Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Horizon Middle School?
Horizon Middle School enrolls approximately 714 students in grades 06-08.
Is Horizon Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Horizon Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Horizon Middle School?
Approximately 14.6:1 students per teacher at Horizon Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Horizon Middle School?
At Horizon Middle School, the student body is approximately 28% White, 41% Hispanic, 17% Black, 3% Asian, 10% Two or more.
What district is Horizon Middle School in?
Horizon Middle School is part of Cherry Creek School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.