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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Shaw Heights Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
321
Middle
DISTRICT 429 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WESTMINSTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 080723001244
Shaw Heights Middle School
8780 CIRCLE DRIVE, WESTMINSTER, CO 80030 · (303) 428-9533 · Adams County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL321 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.8:1
18 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.5:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
87%
278 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 50%
Community
1
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 | 81 | 25% |
| Grade 7 | 107 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 133 | 41% |
Student demographics
42%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 36% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Shaw Heights Middle School→Westminster High School
Based on grade levels within Westminster Public Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CMAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
19.7%
CO avg 44.9% . -3.0pp since 2023
Math
7.9%
CO avg 36.1% . -0.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 20 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 8 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Colorado schools, those numbers are about 45 and 36. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 19.7% | 7.9% |
| 2023-24 | 22.7% | 8.3% |
% 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
13.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
14.2%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 13% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 14% 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 →
Where Shaw Heights Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Adams County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 13.4% | #220 of 241 | #14 of 20 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 7.9% | #224 of 244 | #14 of 20 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 19.7% | #217 of 246 | #12 of 20 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 321 | #188 of 278 | #16 of 20 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.8:1 | #173 of 227 | #10 of 19 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 41.6% | #177 of 227 | #14 of 19 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 86.6% | #17 of 246 | #3 of 20 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -43.3% | #12 of 169 | #3 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.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
321
-183 (-36%) vs 2020
-43% since 1990-91, when it was 563
Student : Teacher
17.8:1
was 18.7:1
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 | 321 | 18.1 | 17.8:1 | 87% (278) |
| 2023-24 | 425 | 27.1 | 15.7:1 | 89% (380) |
| 2022-23 | 564 | 31 | 18.2:1 | 80% (454) |
| 2020-21 | 504 | 27 | 18.7:1 | 82% (411) |
| 2017-18 | 566 | 29.2 | 19.4:1 | 81% (461) |
| 2015-16 | 611 | 27 | 22.6:1 | 84% (516) |
| 2010-11 | 619 | 34 | 18.2:1 | 80% (494) |
| 2000-01 | 627 | 43 | 14.6:1 | 42% (263) |
| 1990-91 | 563 | 37 | 15.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Shaw Heights Middle School.
About Shaw Heights Middle School
A small middle-grades school in WESTMINSTER, Colorado, Shaw Heights Middle School is part of Westminster Public Schools. The school counts 321 students across grades 6 through 8. The school's enrollment is 31% smaller than the 462 average for middle schools in Colorado.
Westminster Public Schools enrolls 7,724 students, and its 18 schools include Shaw Heights Middle School.
Hispanic students make up a majority at Shaw Heights Middle School, at 75%. The remaining shares are 15% White, 4% Asian, 3% Black, and 2% multiracial. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Adams County's population at about 43%. Shaw Heights Middle School's diversity index is 42%, against a US figure of 70%.
Shaw Heights Middle School counts 18.1 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 17.8 students for each one. On average, middle schools in Colorado have 15.9:1, compared with 17.8:1 here. About 87% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Adams County average 62%.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Shaw Heights Middle School would score about 14.2%. It scores 13.4%, within a point of that figure.
Adams County has these Census figures: the median household income is $94,571, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 29% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 7%. Adams County is home to 171 public schools and about 87,938 public school students.
The nearest public school is John E. Flynn A Marzano Academy, at about 0.2 miles. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. By average proficiency, Shaw Heights Middle School is 4th among 4 schools close by.
Shaw Heights Middle School is coded as Suburb: Large in federal locale data.
Over 4 years, Shaw Heights Middle School's enrollment dropped 36%, to 321.
The Shaw Heights Middle School community page is open for posts about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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 Westminster Public Schools
- Westminster High SchoolHigh · 2,010 students
- Josephine Hodgkins Leadership AcademyElementary · 597 students
- Orchard Park AcademyElementary · 531 students
- Sunset Ridge PK-8Elementary · 449 students
- Colorado Sports Leadership AcademyElementary · 425 students
- Colorado STEM AcademyElementary · 415 students
Other schools in WESTMINSTER
- Westminster High SchoolHigh · 2,010 students
- Academy of Charter SchoolsCombined · 1,887 students
- Mountain Range High SchoolHigh · 1,788 students
- Standley Lake High SchoolHigh · 1,123 students
- Colorado Preparatory Academy Elementary SchoolElementary · 933 students
- Colorado Preparatory Academy High SchoolHigh · 823 students
Nearby schools
- John E. Flynn A Marzano Academy0.2 mi · 354
- Mesa Elementary School0.4 mi · 317
- Pikes Peak Online School0.8 mi · 438
- Destinations Career Academy of Colorado0.8 mi · 453
- Colorado Preparatory Academy High School0.8 mi · 823
- Colorado Preparatory Academy Elementary School0.8 mi · 933
Frequently asked questions
About Shaw Heights Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Shaw Heights Middle School?
Shaw Heights Middle School enrolls approximately 321 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Shaw Heights Middle School serve?
Shaw Heights Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Shaw Heights Middle School?
Approximately 17.8:1 students per teacher at Shaw Heights Middle School.
What is the student diversity at Shaw Heights Middle School?
Student demographics at Shaw Heights Middle School are roughly 15% White, 75% Hispanic, 3% Black, 4% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is Shaw Heights Middle School public or private?
Shaw Heights Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Westminster Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.