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What's something William Smith High School does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
410
High
DISTRICT 1,310 · STATE 627
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·AURORA PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 080234000084
William Smith High School
400 AIRPORT BLVD, AURORA, CO 80011 · (303) 364-8715 · Arapahoe County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL410 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
17.1:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.2:1 · STATE 16.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
81%
334 students
DISTRICT 81% · STATE 50%
Community
5
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 | 95 | 23% |
| Grade 10 | 94 | 23% |
| Grade 11 | 100 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 121 | 30% |
Student demographics
38%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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
9.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
17.3%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 10% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 17% 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 William Smith High School
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Smith High School this school | 410 | 81.5% | 9.6% |
| Aurora Science & Tech High School AURORA | 434 | 84.1% | N/A |
| Sheridan High School ENGLEWOOD | 321 | 86.0% | N/A |
| Atlas Preparatory High School COLORADO SPRINGS | 499 | 82.6% | N/A |
| Northeast Early College DENVER | 507 | 85.8% | 11.4% |
| Academy High School THORNTON | 399 | 74.4% | 12.0% |
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 William Smith High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Arapahoe County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 9.6% | #215 of 231 | #16 of 19 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 410 | #182 of 409 | #17 of 25 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.1:1 | #114 of 250 | #5 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 38.2% | #191 of 250 | #18 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 81.5% | #38 of 320 | #5 of 22 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +20.9% | #30 of 108 | #3 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
410
+32 (+8%) vs 2020
+85% since 1990-91, when it was 222
Student : Teacher
17.1:1
was 18.9:1
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 | 410 | 24 | 17.1:1 | 81% (334) |
| 2023-24 | 386 | 25 | 15.4:1 | 83% (320) |
| 2022-23 | 380 | 21 | 18.1:1 | 74% (283) |
| 2020-21 | 378 | 20 | 18.9:1 | 71% (269) |
| 2017-18 | 339 | 19.4 | 17.5:1 | 60% (203) |
| 2015-16 | 317 | 19 | 16.7:1 | 55% (173) |
| 2010-11 | 269 | 25 | 10.8:1 | 49% (131) |
| 2000-01 | 221 | 12 | 18.4:1 | 15% (33) |
| 1990-91 | 222 | 11 | 20.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for William Smith High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 21% (339 to 410); teachers up 24% (19.4 to 24).
About William Smith High School
William Smith High School is a small high school in Colorado, with an address in AURORA. The school counts 410 students across grades 9 through 12. The school's enrollment is 35% smaller than the 627 average for high schools in Colorado.
Aurora Public Schools includes 59 schools. Together they enroll 39,464 students.
William Smith High School's enrollment is 78% Hispanic. Other groups include 10% White, 6% Black, and 4% multiracial. By comparison, Arapahoe County residents are about 22% Hispanic. The chance that two students picked at random at William Smith High School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 38%.
The school has about 17.1 students per teacher and 24 full-time-equivalent teachers. High schools in Colorado have a similar average ratio of 16.9:1. About 81% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. That rate is above the 50% average among public schools in Arapahoe County.
A school with William Smith High School's lunch-eligibility share in Colorado is predicted to score 17.3%. William Smith High School scores 9.6%, 7.7 points below that line.
William Smith High School is located in Arapahoe County, where median household income is about $101,087, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 47%, and about 6% of people live in poverty. William Smith High School is one of 176 public schools in Arapahoe County, which together enroll about 115,502 students.
Aurora Quest K-8 is the public school closest to William Smith High School, about 0.2 miles away. William Smith High School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: William Smith High School ranks 7th of 8 nearby schools, at 9.6% versus a 26.1% average.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is City: Large.
Federal counts put enrollment at 378 in 2020-21 and 410 in 2024-25, an 8% gain. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (17.1:1) than in 2020-21 (18.9:1).
Threads on this page can be about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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
- Vista Peak 9-12 PreparatoryHigh · 2,045 students
- Gateway High SchoolHigh · 1,748 students
- Hinkley High SchoolHigh · 1,527 students
- Lotus School for ExcellenceCombined · 1,008 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
- Aurora Quest K-80.2 mi · 575
- Edna and John W. Mosley P-80.3 mi · 994
- Global Village Academy Aurora0.9 mi · 802
- Laredo Elementary School1.2 mi · 449
- Vanguard Classical School - East1.3 mi · 690
- Laredo Child Development Center1.3 mi · 210
Frequently asked questions
About William Smith High SchoolHow many students attend William Smith High School?
William Smith High School enrolls approximately 410 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does William Smith High School serve?
William Smith High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at William Smith High School?
Approximately 17.1:1 students per teacher at William Smith High School.
How diverse is William Smith High School?
William Smith High School reports a student body of 10% White, 78% Hispanic, 6% Black, 2% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is William Smith High School public or private?
William Smith High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Aurora Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.