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What's the biggest difference between Sierra High School and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
843
High
DISTRICT 538 · STATE 627
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARRISON SCHOOL DISTRICT TWO·NCES 080453001382
Sierra High School
2250 JET WING DRIVE, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80916 · (719) 579-2090 · El Paso County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL843 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
17.0:1
50 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.2:1 · STATE 16.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
72%
611 students
DISTRICT 70% · 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 | 230 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 208 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 202 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 203 | 24% |
Student demographics
62%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
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
13.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
22.8%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 14% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 23% 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 Sierra High School
Sierra High School's state test result (13.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra High School this school | 843 | 72.5% | 13.6% |
| Harrison High School COLORADO SPRINGS | 1,089 | 72.5% | 13.3% |
| DSST: Conservatory Green High School DENVER | 556 | 69.8% | 29.4% |
| DSST: Elevate Northeast High School DENVER | 545 | 76.9% | 19.9% |
| Colorado Early Colleges Aurora AURORA | 567 | 77.1% | 10.2% |
| Rangeview High School AURORA | 2,078 | 69.6% | 26.8% |
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 Sierra High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In El Paso County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 13.6% | #193 of 231 | #26 of 28 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 843 | #123 of 409 | #19 of 48 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.0:1 | #112 of 250 | #15 of 32 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.5% | #28 of 250 | #12 of 32 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 72.5% | #73 of 320 | #5 of 37 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +7.4% | #67 of 108 | #8 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
843
+35 (+4%) vs 2020
-23% since 1990-91, when it was 1,092
Student : Teacher
17.0:1
was 13.3:1
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 | 843 | 49.5 | 17.0:1 | 72% (611) |
| 2023-24 | 822 | 48 | 17.1:1 | 84% (689) |
| 2022-23 | 908 | 57.5 | 15.8:1 | 54% (489) |
| 2020-21 | 808 | 61 | 13.3:1 | 81% (651) |
| 2017-18 | 785 | 53.4 | 14.7:1 | 76% (593) |
| 2015-16 | 787 | 48 | 16.4:1 | 67% (524) |
| 2010-11 | 887 | 69 | 12.9:1 | 63% (558) |
| 2000-01 | 1,154 | 67 | 17.2:1 | 33% (384) |
| 1990-91 | 1,092 | 72 | 15.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sierra High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 7% (785 to 843); teachers down 7% (53.4 to 49.5).
About Sierra High School
In COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, part of El Paso County, Sierra High School is a high school. Students in grades 9 through 12 attend the school, which enrolls 843 students. The average among high schools in Colorado is roughly 627 students; this school is 34% above that.
Harrison School District Two counts 11,938 students in its 28 schools, and Sierra High School is one of them.
By race and ethnicity, Sierra High School is 56% Hispanic. It is also 17% Black, 15% White, 7% multiracial, and 2% Asian. For comparison, the population of El Paso County is roughly 19% Hispanic. By the diversity index, Sierra High School comes in at 62%.
Sierra High School operates with 49.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 17.0:1. High schools in Colorado have a similar average ratio of 16.9:1. Sierra High School reports 72% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Compared with the 42% average for public schools in El Paso County, the school's rate is higher.
Sierra High School is 9.2 points below its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (13.6% versus 22.8%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Colorado.
According to the American Community Survey, in El Paso County, median household income is about $90,363, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 42% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 6%. Sierra High School is one of 245 public schools in El Paso County, which together enroll about 114,356 students.
Centennial Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 13.6% is below the 18.4% average for nearby schools.
Locale data from NCES put Sierra High School inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more (City: Large).
A comparison of 2020-21 and 2024-25 shows enrollment up 4%, from 808 to 843. The ratio of students to teachers went from 13.3:1 to 17.0:1 over the same years.
Parents and students can post about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs at Sierra High School. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 Harrison School District Two
- Harrison High SchoolHigh · 1,089 students
- The Vanguard School (Elementary)Elementary · 949 students
- Soaring Eagles Community SchoolElementary · 764 students
- Sand Creek International SchoolElementary · 595 students
- Mountain Vista Community SchoolElementary · 590 students
- James Irwin Elementary School - AstrozonElementary · 522 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
Other Sierra High schools
5 other US public schools in 2 states are named Sierra High. Sierra High School is the 2nd largest of the 6.
- Sierra HighManteca, CA · 1,670 students
- Sierra HighSan Bernardino, CA · 384 students
- Sierra HighTollhouse, CA · 367 students
- Sierra HighAzusa, CA · 119 students
- Sierra HighFillmore, CA · 64 students
Nearby schools
- Centennial Elementary School0.6 mi · 340
- Panorama Middle School0.6 mi · 339
- Atlas Preparatory Middle School0.6 mi · 473
- Atlas Preparatory Elementary School0.6 mi · 286
- Giberson Elementary School0.6 mi · 291
- Atlas Preparatory High School0.7 mi · 499
Frequently asked questions
About Sierra High SchoolHow many students attend Sierra High School?
Sierra High School enrolls approximately 843 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Sierra High School serve?
Sierra High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sierra High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Sierra High School is approximately 17.0:1 (50 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Sierra High School?
At Sierra High School, the student body is approximately 15% White, 56% Hispanic, 17% Black, 2% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Sierra High School public or private?
Sierra High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Harrison School District Two.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.