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Welcome to the Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory community. What's one thing that would make Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory even better?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,045
High
DISTRICT 1,310 · STATE 627
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·AURORA PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 080234006451
Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory
24500 EAST 6TH AVENUE, AURORA, CO 80018 · (303) 340-0121 · Arapahoe County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL2,045 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
21.2:1
97 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.2:1 · STATE 16.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
62%
1,269 students
DISTRICT 81% · 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 | 472 | 23% |
| Grade 10 | 550 | 27% |
| Grade 11 | 523 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 500 | 24% |
Student demographics
67%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 60% · 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
15.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
29.1%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 15% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 29% 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 Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory
Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory's state test result (15.3% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory this school | 2,045 | 62.1% | 15.3% |
| Rangeview High School AURORA | 2,078 | 69.6% | 26.8% |
| Overland High School AURORA | 2,228 | 64.8% | 10.2% |
| Thomas Jefferson High School DENVER | 1,390 | 50.9% | 31.9% |
| George Washington High School DENVER | 1,326 | 55.2% | 30.1% |
| Smoky Hill High School AURORA | 2,297 | 48.6% | 15.6% |
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 Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Arapahoe County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 15.3% | #187 of 231 | #13 of 19 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,045 | #14 of 409 | #8 of 25 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.2:1 | #213 of 250 | #16 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 67.3% | #17 of 250 | #7 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 62.1% | #110 of 320 | #10 of 22 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +41.6% | #17 of 108 | #2 of 10 |
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
2,045
+526 (+35%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
21.2:1
was 19.7:1
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 | 2,045 | 96.5 | 21.2:1 | 62% (1,269) |
| 2023-24 | 1,966 | 93.5 | 21.0:1 | 61% (1,197) |
| 2022-23 | 1,795 | 84 | 21.4:1 | 54% (970) |
| 2020-21 | 1,519 | 77 | 19.7:1 | 49% (740) |
| 2017-18 | 1,444 | 73.3 | 19.7:1 | 48% (694) |
| 2015-16 | 1,191 | 66 | 18.1:1 | 45% (540) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory.
Since 2017-18: students up 42% (1,444 to 2,045); teachers up 32% (73.3 to 96.5).
About Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory
As a large high school, Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory serves students in AURORA, Colorado. Enrollment stands at 2,045 students, covering grades 9 through 12. That is 226% larger than the average of about 627 students for high schools in Colorado.
Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory reports to Aurora Public Schools, which has 59 schools and 39,464 students.
The share of Hispanic students at Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory is 50%, a majority. It is also 19% Black, 18% White, 7% multiracial, and 6% Asian. For comparison, the population of Arapahoe County is roughly 22% Hispanic. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 67, compared with 70 nationally.
On staff are 96.5 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 21.2:1. The average for high schools in Colorado is 16.9:1, so this school has more students per teacher. About 62% of students at Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Arapahoe County report 50%.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory would score about 29.1%. It scores 15.3%, a bottom-10% result among Colorado schools on BeatsExpectations.
In the surrounding county, Arapahoe County, the median household earns about $101,087 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 47%, and roughly 6% of residents are in poverty. Arapahoe County has 176 public schools with about 115,502 students, including Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory.
Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory's closest public school neighbor is Vista Peak P-8 Exploratory, about 0.3 miles away. The five-mile area around Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory holds at least 8 other public schools. Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory's average proficiency of 15.3% compares with 36.7% for its nearest scored neighbors.
The federal government classifies Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory's location as City: Large.
Over 4 years, enrollment increased by 526 students, from 1,519 to 2,045. There were more students per teacher in 2024-25 (21.2:1) than in 2020-21 (19.7:1).
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about open houses, carpools, and field trips. You can also rate the school on this page.
Arapahoe County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
659,844
Census ACS
Median income
$101,087
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
47%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
176
115,502 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Aurora Public Schools
- Aurora Central CampusCombined · 2,468 students
- Rangeview High SchoolHigh · 2,078 students
- Gateway High SchoolHigh · 1,748 students
- Hinkley High SchoolHigh · 1,527 students
- Lotus School for ExcellenceCombined · 1,008 students
- Edna and John W. Mosley P-8Elementary · 994 students
Other schools in AURORA
- Cherokee Trail High SchoolHigh · 3,089 students
- Grandview High SchoolHigh · 2,684 students
- Aurora Central CampusCombined · 2,468 students
- Smoky Hill High SchoolHigh · 2,297 students
- Overland High SchoolHigh · 2,228 students
- Rangeview High SchoolHigh · 2,078 students
Nearby schools
- Vista Peak P-8 Exploratory0.3 mi · 960
- Harmony Ridge P-81.6 mi · 894
- Murphy Creek K-8 School2.3 mi · 855
- Sky Ranch Academy2.5 mi · 495
- Clyde Miller K-83.4 mi · 466
- Aurora Highlands K-83.7 mi · 472
Frequently asked questions
About Vista Peak 9-12 PreparatoryHow large is Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory?
Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory enrolls approximately 2,045 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory serve?
Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory?
Approximately 21.2:1 students per teacher at Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory.
What is the student diversity at Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory?
Student demographics at Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory are roughly 18% White, 50% Hispanic, 19% Black, 6% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory in?
Vista Peak 9-12 Preparatory is part of Aurora Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.