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If you could change one rule at Vista Ridge High School, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,473
High
DISTRICT 1,491 · STATE 627
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·EL PASO COUNTY COLORADO SCHOOL DISTRICT 49·NCES 080387006408
Vista Ridge High School
6888 BLACK FOREST ROAD, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80923 · (719) 494-8800 · El Paso County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL1,473 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
19.9:1
74 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.7:1 · STATE 16.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
38%
559 students
DISTRICT 37% · 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 | 370 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 356 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 367 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 380 | 26% |
Student demographics
68%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
33.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
43.7%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 34% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 44% 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 Vista Ridge High School
Vista Ridge High School's state test result (33.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vista Ridge High School this school | 1,473 | 37.9% | 33.9% |
| South High School DENVER | 1,950 | 38.6% | 31.8% |
| Lakewood High School LAKEWOOD | 1,735 | 36.8% | 35.5% |
| Rampart High School COLORADO SPRINGS | 1,305 | 31.4% | 44.7% |
| Widefield High School COLORADO SPRINGS | 1,193 | 39.2% | 23.8% |
| Horizon High School BRIGHTON | 1,966 | 33.1% | 32.3% |
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 Ridge High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In El Paso County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 33.9% | #87 of 231 | #12 of 28 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,473 | #56 of 409 | #5 of 48 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.9:1 | #177 of 250 | #25 of 32 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 67.9% | #14 of 250 | #6 of 32 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 37.9% | #210 of 320 | #24 of 37 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.9% | #105 of 139 | #16 of 19 |
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
1,473
-154 (-9%) vs 2020
+33% since 2010-11, when it was 1,105
Student : Teacher
19.9:1
was 20.6:1
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 | 1,473 | 74.1 | 19.9:1 | 38% (559) |
| 2023-24 | 1,479 | 75.2 | 19.7:1 | 36% (526) |
| 2022-23 | 1,587 | 70.9 | 22.4:1 | 26% (420) |
| 2020-21 | 1,627 | 79 | 20.6:1 | 22% (357) |
| 2017-18 | 1,583 | 71.2 | 22.2:1 | 24% (382) |
| 2015-16 | 1,470 | 66 | 22.3:1 | 23% (340) |
| 2010-11 | 1,105 | 54 | 20.5:1 | 16% (176) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Vista Ridge High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (1,583 to 1,473); teachers up 4% (71.2 to 74.1).
About Vista Ridge High School
Students in COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, attend Vista Ridge High School, a large high school. The school covers grades 9 through 12 and reported 1,473 students in 2024-25. That puts enrollment 135% larger than the 627-student average for high schools in Colorado.
El Paso County Colorado School District 49 runs Vista Ridge High School along with 30 other schools, enrolling 25,689 students in total.
No group is above 50% at Vista Ridge High School; the largest is White, at 47%. It is also 29% Hispanic, 11% multiracial, 8% Black, and 4% Asian. El Paso County's residents are about 70% White, 24 points above the school's share. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Vista Ridge High School scores 68%.
Vista Ridge High School reports a ratio of 19.9 students per teacher, from 74.1 full-time-equivalent teachers. The gap from the 16.9:1 average for high schools in Colorado is 2.9 students per teacher. Student poverty is often measured by lunch eligibility; at Vista Ridge High School, 38% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, Vista Ridge High School is 9.9 points below the average proficiency rate across its state test results predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 33.9% actual, 43.7% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Colorado.
The school is in El Paso County, where median household income comes to about $90,363, roughly 42% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 6%. El Paso County counts 245 public schools with about 114,356 students.
About 0.7 miles separate Vista Ridge High School from the closest public school, Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Vista Ridge High School's average proficiency of 33.9% compares with 41.3% for its nearest scored neighbors.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Large: inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
By 2024-25, enrollment had dropped to 1,473, from 1,627 in 2020-21.
Anyone can start a thread about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Vista Ridge High School. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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 El Paso County Colorado School District 49
- GOAL AcademyHigh · 6,693 students
- Banning Lewis Ranch AcademyCombined · 1,697 students
- Sand Creek High SchoolHigh · 1,426 students
- Falcon High SchoolHigh · 1,172 students
- Rocky Mountain Classical AcademyElementary · 1,162 students
- Falcon Middle SchoolMiddle · 866 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
- Sand Creek High SchoolHigh · 1,426 students
Other Vista Ridge High schools
One other US public school is named Vista Ridge High. Vista Ridge High School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Vista Ridge High SchoolCEDAR PARK, TX · 2,480 students
Nearby schools
- Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy0.7 mi · 538
- Ridgeview Elementary School0.7 mi · 626
- Skyview Middle School0.9 mi · 862
- Grand Peak Academy1.5 mi · 608
- Banning Lewis Ranch Academy1.5 mi · 1,697
- Freedom Elementary School1.6 mi · 407
Frequently asked questions
About Vista Ridge High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Vista Ridge High School?
Vista Ridge High School enrolls approximately 1,473 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Vista Ridge High School serve?
Vista Ridge High School serves grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Vista Ridge High School have?
Vista Ridge High School employs 74 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 19.9:1.
What is the student diversity at Vista Ridge High School?
Student demographics at Vista Ridge High School are roughly 47% White, 29% Hispanic, 8% Black, 4% Asian, 11% Two or more.
What district is Vista Ridge High School in?
Vista Ridge High School is part of El Paso County Colorado School District 49.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.