New data shows Colorado schools are performing at a rate consistent with the previous year statewide, while Woodland Park’s schools took a step back.

Preliminary performance frameworks for the 2025-26 school year show all Woodland Park District RE-2 schools recording lower percentages than the previous year.

The frameworks, released by the Colorado Department of Education, are used to accredit districts and assign school ratings based on measures including academic achievement, academic growth and postsecondary and workforce readiness.

The levels of accreditation for districts, from lowest to highest, are “turnaround,” “priority improvement,” “improvement,” “performance” and “distinction.” The ratings for schools, from lowest to highest, are “turnaround,” “priority improvement,” “improvement” and “performance.”  

“Turnaround” and “Priority Improvement” rankings put schools on the state’s “accountability clock” or “watchlist.” After five successive years on the clock without meaningful improvement, a district may receive an improvement course of action from the Colorado State Board of Education.

After earning an “Accredited” ranking for the past four years, Woodland Park’s district earned an “Accredited with Improvement” ranking with 53.5 percentage points earned, with every school’s individual performance decreasing.

The district’s highest-performing school was Summit Elementary School, though its percentage score saw the most significant decrease from 92.9% to 75%. Woodland Park Junior/Senior High saw the second-largest decrease, from 65.3% to 48.6%, and is the only district school with a required improvement plan.

Merit Academy’s percentage decreased from 92.9% to 75% while Columbine Elementary had the smallest decrease from 66.2% last year to 55.8% this year.

The district’s chief academic officer, Karen Hamlow, told its Board of Education that they plan on conducting a root-cause analysis on this year’s results, but added that recent changes in educational philosophies and approaches likely contributed to the drops during the board’s Sept. 2 meeting.

Comparing the district to a professional athlete who’s taken some time off or changed their coaches, she said these changes “really rocks the program for a long time to come” and it was happening in their schools.

Hamlow explained that they currently lack a “unifying feature or force” in their curriculum that ensures all teachers receive the same training and are able to diagnose students’ needs.

“You’ll see the trends in this data, for me, speak very strongly to the difference in having a unified system made for our students,” Hamlow told the board. “And you saw upward trajectory, even through COVID. We were making gains and students were gaining those habits of success.”

The district’s middle schoolers moving from their dedicated building into the high school and Gateway Elementary students moving into Columbine were examples of recent changes students have had to manage. Hamlow said teachers reported these transitions, which happened fast, negatively impacted school culture and may have affected students’ performances.

To address this, the district plans to improve its safety, collaboration and support systems throughout its schools and reintroduce student health services previously offered. Hamlow said this will be done with the assistance of a coach from Marzano Resources, which works to develop effective schools through a framework of practices.

“We’ve got a lot of long, hard years ahead of us to regain this ground,” she told the board. “And we know it and we’ve got some plans to address it.

Statewide, 55% of districts earned an “accredited” or higher rating, the same as 2025, while the number of schools earning a performance plan dropped one percentage point to 65%.

148 schools are on “performance watch,” down from 176 in the 2025 preliminary frameworks. Of those, 31 improved enough to move to “on watch” status, which puts them on a path to exit the “accountability clock” if they maintain improved performance.

Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova called the results “encouraging” in a news release.

“At the same time, we know that too many students are still attending schools that are struggling to meet their needs,” she said.

“Our job is to learn from what is working, strengthen instruction where it matters most and partner with local leaders to provide the support schools need so that every student has access to a high-quality education.”