Two Woodland Park schools ranked among the top half of the state in the annual CMAS test scores, which were released Aug. 17.

Merit Academy ranked No. 560 among the 1,335 schools with a high enough enrollment to get a ranking, according to a ranking metric devised by The Denver Gazette. Woodland Park Middle School was close behind at 611.

Gateway Elementary ranked 740th.

The Courier asked the district for comment on Aug. 18 but had not received a response as deadline on the morning of Aug. 20. The Courier did not get results for Columbine or Summit elementary schools.

Merit scored 51.4% of students meeting or exceeding expectations in English Language Arts, while Woodland Park Middle School scored 44.8%. Both of those were higher than the state average of 43.2 percent.

The district’s schools didn’t fare as well in the mathematics scores, with none exceeding the sate average of 31.5 percent. Woodland Park Middle School scored 30.8% in math, while Gateway Elementary scored 29.5% and Merit was at 28%

Cripple Creek-Victor RE-1 fell in the bottom 10 of the state’s 166 school districts, placing 157. Just over 5% of Cripple Creek-Victor students met or exceeded math expectations.

Each spring, the state administers the CMAS test for reading and math for third through eighth graders. And, to a lesser extent, students are also tested in science and social studies.

The state has not created a metric to rank district or school academic performances. To better understand — and compare — these CMAS scores, The Denver Gazette created a ranking by calculating “a grand total” by averaging math and literacy results.

High schoolers take the SAT and PSAT, which is administered by the College Board, to measure a student’s readiness for college.

There will likely be nor forum during which all six school board candidates will be in attemdance.

Courier file