1
What do students at Rocky Top Middle School actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,052
Middle
DISTRICT 802 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ADAMS 12 FIVE STAR SCHOOLS·NCES 080690001726
Rocky Top Middle School
14150 YORK STREET, THORNTON, CO 80602 · (720) 972-2200 · Adams County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,052 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 80% of Colorado public middle schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats 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
18.5:1
57 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.4:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
28%
290 students
DISTRICT 57% · 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 | 334 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 362 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 356 | 34% |
Student demographics
60%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 63% · 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
55.7%
CO avg 44.9% . -0.2pp since 2023
Math
50.6%
CO avg 36.1% . +1.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 56 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Colorado schools, those numbers are about 45 and 36. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 55.7% | 50.6% |
| 2023-24 | 55.9% | 49.0% |
% 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
52.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.0%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+2.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 53% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% 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 Rocky Top Middle School
Rocky Top Middle School's state test result (52.8% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Top Middle School this school | 1,052 | 27.6% | 52.8% |
| Discovery Canyon Campus Middle School COLORADO SPRINGS | 821 | 18.1% | 64.4% |
| Cresthill Middle School HIGHLANDS RANCH | 558 | 26.0% | 55.2% |
| Chinook Trail Middle School COLORADO SPRINGS | 1,075 | 16.9% | 53.5% |
| Altona Middle School LONGMONT | 715 | 23.5% | 68.4% |
| Rodger Quist Middle School THORNTON | 855 | 38.6% | 27.4% |
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 Rocky Top Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Adams County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 52.8% | #43 of 241 | #1 of 20 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 50.6% | #37 of 244 ▼ 2 | #1 of 20 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 55.7% | #63 of 246 ▼ 3 | #1 of 20 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,052 | #8 of 278 | #1 of 20 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.5:1 | #186 of 227 | #13 of 19 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.3% | #44 of 227 | #3 of 19 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 27.6% | #198 of 246 | #20 of 20 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -22.1% | #69 of 169 | #9 of 15 |
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
1,052
+20 (+2%) vs 2020
-5% since 2010-11, when it was 1,104
Student : Teacher
18.5:1
was 19.1:1
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 | 1,052 | 57 | 18.5:1 | 28% (290) |
| 2023-24 | 1,060 | 56.9 | 18.6:1 | 26% (277) |
| 2022-23 | 1,001 | 56.5 | 17.7:1 | 23% (233) |
| 2020-21 | 1,032 | 54 | 19.1:1 | 15% (159) |
| 2017-18 | 1,350 | 68.9 | 19.6:1 | 12% (157) |
| 2015-16 | 1,356 | 68 | 19.9:1 | 12% (168) |
| 2010-11 | 1,104 | 56 | 19.7:1 | 13% (142) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Rocky Top Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 22% (1,350 to 1,052); teachers down 17% (68.9 to 57).
About Rocky Top Middle School
The public middle school Rocky Top Middle School is located in THORNTON, Colorado. There are 1,052 students enrolled, covering grades 6 through 8. The school is 128% above the average for middle schools in Colorado.
Adams 12 Five Star Schools is responsible for 54 schools, Rocky Top Middle School included, with 34,466 students in all.
Federal enrollment data show Rocky Top Middle School is 56% White. Next come 28% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and 7% multiracial. In Adams County overall, the White share is about 55%. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 60%.
The school lists 57 full-time-equivalent teachers and a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.5:1. The average for middle schools in Colorado is 15.9:1, so this school has more students per teacher. A total of 290 students, or 28%, are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Across public schools in Adams County, the average is 62%.
On the allk12 Grade, Rocky Top Middle School lands at A-, ahead of 80% of Colorado public middle schools.
The BeatsExpectations prediction for Rocky Top Middle School is 50.0%, and its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 52.8%.
In Adams County, the median household earns about $94,571 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 29%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. Adams County has 171 public schools with about 87,938 students, including Rocky Top Middle School.
Rocky Top Middle School is about 0.8 miles from Prairie Hills Elementary School, its nearest public school. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Rocky Top Middle School ranks 3rd of 9 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 52.8% against a local average of 47.9%.
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, Rocky Top Middle School enrolled 1,032; in 2024-25, 1,052.
This page collects posts and questions about Rocky Top Middle School, such as fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Adams County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
530,225
Census ACS
Median income
$94,571
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
171
87,938 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Adams 12 Five Star Schools
- Legacy High SchoolHigh · 2,052 students
- Horizon High SchoolHigh · 1,966 students
- Northglenn High SchoolHigh · 1,844 students
- Mountain Range High SchoolHigh · 1,788 students
- Stargate Charter SchoolCombined · 1,572 students
- Prospect Ridge AcademyCombined · 1,478 students
Other schools in THORNTON
- Riverdale Ridge High SchoolHigh · 1,784 students
- Stargate Charter SchoolCombined · 1,572 students
- Thornton High SchoolHigh · 1,439 students
- Rodger Quist Middle SchoolMiddle · 855 students
- York InternationalCombined · 776 students
- Thornton Middle SchoolMiddle · 721 students
Nearby schools
- Prairie Hills Elementary School0.8 mi · 378
- Tarver Elementary School1.1 mi · 475
- Stargate Charter School1.2 mi · 1,572
- Hunters Glen Elementary School1.3 mi · 491
- Silver Creek Elementary1.4 mi · 538
- Century Middle School1.4 mi · 717
Frequently asked questions
About Rocky Top Middle SchoolHow large is Rocky Top Middle School?
Rocky Top Middle School enrolls approximately 1,052 students in grades 06-08.
Is Rocky Top Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Rocky Top Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Rocky Top Middle School have?
Rocky Top Middle School employs 57 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Rocky Top Middle School?
Student demographics at Rocky Top Middle School are roughly 56% White, 28% Hispanic, 2% Black, 8% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is Rocky Top Middle School in?
Rocky Top Middle School is part of Adams 12 Five Star Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.