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How has Southern Hills Middle School changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
502
Middle
DISTRICT 503 · STATE 462
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BOULDER VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. RE2·NCES 080249000134
Southern Hills Middle School
1500 KNOX DRIVE, BOULDER, CO 80305 · (720) 561-3400 · Boulder County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL502 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 99% 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.
- A+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
19.3:1
26 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.9:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
11%
53 students
DISTRICT 30% · 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 | 168 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 185 | 37% |
| Grade 8 | 149 | 30% |
Student demographics
45%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
85.9%
CO avg 44.9% . +1.6pp since 2023
Math
71.1%
CO avg 36.1% . -0.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 86 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 71 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 have held steady.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 85.9% | 71.1% |
| 2023-24 | 84.3% | 71.9% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of CO schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
79.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
60.3%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+18.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 79% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 60% typical for Colorado schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 19 points, placing it in Colorado's top 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 Southern Hills Middle School
Southern Hills Middle School's state test result (79.2% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Hills Middle School this school | 502 | 10.6% | 79.2% |
| Challenger Middle School COLORADO SPRINGS | 696 | 16.8% | 65.3% |
| Erie Middle School ERIE | 762 | 15.5% | 55.4% |
| Discovery Canyon Campus Middle School COLORADO SPRINGS | 821 | 18.1% | 64.4% |
| Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School FORT COLLINS | 762 | 11.8% | 75.8% |
| Mountain Ridge Middle School HIGHLANDS RANCH | 752 | 14.6% | 61.0% |
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 Southern Hills Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Boulder County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 79.2% | #2 of 241 | #2 of 13 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 71.1% | #6 of 244 ▼ 3 | #2 of 13 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 85.9% | #3 of 246 ▼ 2 | #2 of 13 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 502 | #115 of 278 | #6 of 13 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.3:1 | #208 of 227 | #12 of 13 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 44.8% | #157 of 227 | #9 of 13 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 10.6% | #244 of 246 | #13 of 13 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -9.5% | #120 of 169 | #8 of 12 |
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
502
+26 (+5%) vs 2020
+20% since 1990-91, when it was 419
Student : Teacher
19.3:1
was 19.0:1
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 | 502 | 26 | 19.3:1 | 11% (53) |
| 2023-24 | 493 | 24.8 | 19.9:1 | 8% (37) |
| 2022-23 | 456 | 24.5 | 18.6:1 | 10% (45) |
| 2020-21 | 476 | 25 | 19.0:1 | 6% (28) |
| 2017-18 | 555 | 27.1 | 20.5:1 | 5% (26) |
| 2015-16 | 555 | 28 | 19.8:1 | 8% (43) |
| 2010-11 | 546 | 29 | 18.8:1 | 6% (33) |
| 2000-01 | 466 | 27 | 17.3:1 | 4% (20) |
| 1990-91 | 419 | 24 | 17.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southern Hills Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 10% (555 to 502); teachers down 4% (27.1 to 26).
About Southern Hills Middle School
Southern Hills Middle School is a medium-sized middle school found in BOULDER, Colorado. Enrollment is 502 students in 2024-25, and the school serves grades 6 through 8.
Southern Hills Middle School sits within Boulder Valley School District No. Re2, which has 56 schools and 27,988 students.
White students account for 73% of enrollment at Southern Hills Middle School. The remaining students are 11% multiracial, 8% Hispanic, and 7% Asian. The chance that two students picked at random at Southern Hills Middle School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 45%.
Its teaching staff equals 26 full-time positions, a ratio of 19.3:1. That ratio is over the 15.9:1 average for middle schools in Colorado. Around 11% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The gap from the 33% average for public schools in Boulder County is 22 points.
allk12 grades Southern Hills Middle School an A+. The grade compares the school only with Colorado public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Southern Hills Middle School is in the top 10% of Colorado schools: 79.2% actual against 60.3% predicted.
Among Boulder County residents, median household income is about $103,994, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 64%, and about 4% of people live in poverty. Southern Hills Middle School is one of 86 public schools in Boulder County, which together enroll about 42,200 students.
Nearby, Fairview High School is about 0.2 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 71.8%; Southern Hills Middle School's is 79.2%, ranking 3rd of 8.
Its location is classified as City: Mid-size by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the student count grew from 476 to 502.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Southern Hills Middle School. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Boulder County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
328,961
Census ACS
Median income
$103,994
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
64%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
86
42,200 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Boulder Valley School District No. Re2
- Boulder High SchoolHigh · 1,939 students
- Fairview High SchoolHigh · 1,863 students
- Broomfield High SchoolHigh · 1,693 students
- Centaurus High SchoolHigh · 1,557 students
- Peak to Peak Charter SchoolCombined · 1,447 students
- Monarch High SchoolHigh · 1,431 students
Other schools in BOULDER
- Boulder High SchoolHigh · 1,939 students
- Fairview High SchoolHigh · 1,863 students
- Williamsburg Academy of ColoradoHigh · 622 students
- Centennial Middle SchoolMiddle · 598 students
- Nevin Platt Middle SchoolMiddle · 483 students
- Manhattan Middle School of the Arts and AcademicsMiddle · 482 students
Nearby schools
- Fairview High School0.2 mi · 1,863
- Community Montessori School0.6 mi · 277
- Summit Middle Charter School0.6 mi · 366
- Mesa Elementary School0.9 mi · 250
- Bear Creek Elementary School1.1 mi · 318
- Creekside Elementary School at Martin Park1.1 mi · 359
Frequently asked questions
About Southern Hills Middle SchoolHow many students attend Southern Hills Middle School?
Southern Hills Middle School enrolls approximately 502 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Southern Hills Middle School serve?
Southern Hills Middle School serves grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Southern Hills Middle School have?
Southern Hills Middle School employs 26 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 19.3:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Southern Hills Middle School?
At Southern Hills Middle School, the student body is approximately 73% White, 8% Hispanic, 1% Black, 7% Asian, 11% Two or more.
Is Southern Hills Middle School public or private?
Southern Hills Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Boulder Valley School District No. Re2.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.