1
Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Mesa Ridge High School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,304
High
DISTRICT 860 · STATE 627
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WIDEFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT 3·NCES 080648001588
Mesa Ridge High School
6070 MESA RIDGE PARKWAY, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80911 · (719) 391-3600 · El Paso County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,304 STUDENTS
·
allk12 Grade
Not graded
This school has no state test results for 2023-24 or 2024-25 to grade, which is common for schools that end before third grade. How grades work
Student : Teacher
18.9:1
69 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.6:1 · STATE 16.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
36%
468 students
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 50%
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 | 381 | 29% |
| Grade 10 | 321 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 313 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 289 | 22% |
Student demographics
71%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · 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
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of CO schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
18.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.0%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-26.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 18% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 45% typical for Colorado schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Mesa Ridge High School
Mesa Ridge High School's state test result (18.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa Ridge High School this school | 1,304 | 35.9% | 18.4% |
| Widefield High School COLORADO SPRINGS | 1,193 | 39.2% | 23.8% |
| Fountain-Fort Carson High School FOUNTAIN | 1,974 | 43.0% | N/A |
| Northfield High School DENVER | 2,137 | 32.3% | 30.6% |
| East High School DENVER | 2,476 | 32.5% | 34.4% |
| Vista Ridge High School COLORADO SPRINGS | 1,473 | 37.9% | 33.9% |
Matched among Colorado 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 Mesa Ridge High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In El Paso County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 18.4% | #170 of 231 | #22 of 28 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,304 | #75 of 409 | #9 of 48 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.9:1 | #147 of 250 | #23 of 32 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 70.9% | #5 of 250 | #1 of 32 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 35.9% | #216 of 320 | #25 of 37 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +1.1% | #102 of 108 | #12 of 13 |
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
1,304
-8 (-1%) vs 2020
-1% since 2000-01, when it was 1,318
Student : Teacher
18.9:1
was 18.5:1
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 | 1,304 | 69.2 | 18.9:1 | 36% (468) |
| 2023-24 | 1,255 | 69.2 | 18.1:1 | 44% (550) |
| 2022-23 | 1,269 | 64.8 | 19.6:1 | 26% (329) |
| 2020-21 | 1,312 | 71 | 18.5:1 | 40% (519) |
| 2017-18 | 1,290 | 68.2 | 18.9:1 | 35% (454) |
| 2015-16 | 1,330 | 67 | 19.9:1 | 44% (586) |
| 2010-11 | 1,293 | 67 | 19.3:1 | 36% (465) |
| 2000-01 | 1,318 | 67 | 19.7:1 | 0% (0) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mesa Ridge High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 1% (1,290 to 1,304); teachers up 1% (68.2 to 69.2).
About Mesa Ridge High School
Mesa Ridge High School is a high-enrollment high school in Colorado, with an address in COLORADO SPRINGS. The school's 1,304 students are in grades 9 through 12. Enrollment is 108% higher than the average for high schools in Colorado, which is about 627.
Widefield School District 3 includes 18 schools. Together they enroll 9,290 students.
By race and ethnicity, the largest group at Mesa Ridge High School is White (39%). Other students are 34% Hispanic, 12% Black, and 12% multiracial. That is lower than the 70% White share among all El Paso County residents. By the diversity index, Mesa Ridge High School comes in at 71%.
At Mesa Ridge High School, 69.2 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 18.9:1. That ratio is over the 16.9:1 average for high schools in Colorado. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 36% of enrollment.
Mesa Ridge High School falls short of its prediction by 26.6 points. The model expects 45.0% for a school with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Colorado; the school's rate is 18.4%.
According to the American Community Survey, in El Paso County, median household income is about $90,363, 42% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. A total of 245 public schools operate in El Paso County, serving about 114,356 students.
The closest public school to Mesa Ridge High School is James Madison Charter Academy School, about 0.3 miles away. Within five miles of Mesa Ridge High School, there are at least 8 other public schools. In a group of 9 nearby schools with scores, Mesa Ridge High School ranks 9th on average proficiency.
Its NCES locale code is Suburb: Large: the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2020-21, Mesa Ridge High School enrolled 1,312; in 2024-25, 1,304.
To ask about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater, start a discussion on this page. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
El Paso County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
742,999
Census ACS
Median income
$90,363
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
42%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
245
114,356 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Widefield School District 3
- Widefield High SchoolHigh · 1,193 students
- Grand Mountain SchoolElementary · 1,044 students
- Janitell Junior High SchoolMiddle · 658 students
- Webster Elementary SchoolElementary · 582 students
- Sunrise Elementary SchoolElementary · 506 students
- Sproul Junior High SchoolMiddle · 504 students
Other schools in COLORADO SPRINGS
- The Classical Academy CharterElementary · 1,909 students
- Pine Creek High SchoolHigh · 1,875 students
- Doherty High SchoolHigh · 1,715 students
- Banning Lewis Ranch AcademyCombined · 1,697 students
- Liberty High SchoolHigh · 1,526 students
- Vista Ridge High SchoolHigh · 1,473 students
Nearby schools
- James Madison Charter Academy School0.3 mi · 72
- Webster Elementary School0.3 mi · 582
- Janitell Junior High School0.7 mi · 658
- Talbott STEAM Innovation School1.0 mi · 324
- Martin Luther King Jr Elementary School1.1 mi · 498
- Watson Junior High School1.3 mi · 470
Frequently asked questions
About Mesa Ridge High SchoolHow many students attend Mesa Ridge High School?
Mesa Ridge High School enrolls approximately 1,304 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Mesa Ridge High School serve?
Mesa Ridge High School serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Mesa Ridge High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Mesa Ridge High School is approximately 18.9:1 (69 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Mesa Ridge High School?
At Mesa Ridge High School, the student body is approximately 39% White, 34% Hispanic, 12% Black, 1% Asian, 12% Two or more.
Who oversees Mesa Ridge High School?
Mesa Ridge High School is overseen by Widefield School District 3 in El Paso County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.