Pueblo school districts see highest graduation rates since 2020

Pueblo County's two public school districts have reason to celebrate — both saw improvements to their four-year high school graduation rates between 2022 and 2023.

The Colorado Department of Education reported that 92.3% of Pueblo County School District 70 students from the Class of 2023 graduated high school in four years. It was a 2% improvement from 2022 and the highest graduation rate for Pueblo D70 since the Class of 2020, in which 92.6% of students graduated.

"District 70 attributes the improvement to the consistent and active engagements on the part of our counselors, teachers and principals in response to individual student need — and the services that we are able to provide for them," Pueblo D70 Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Anthony Martinez said in a statement.

With a four-year graduation rate of 79.8% in 2023, Pueblo School District 60 improved its four-year graduation rate by 3.2%. Like Pueblo D70, Pueblo D60 recorded its highest graduation rate since 2020. Pueblo D60's graduation rate for the 2019-20 school year was 82.6%.

"“With the understanding that our efforts must continue, we are very pleased that more of our scholars are remaining in the classroom and graduating,” said Charlotte Macaluso, Pueblo D60 superintendent. “This is a tribute to the entire District team, from the Leadership Team to support personnel, who every day put the needs of our scholars at the forefront."

Colorado's 2023 statewide graduation rate was 83.1% — an 0.8% improvement from 2022.

Which Pueblo schools had the highest graduation rates?

Rye High School, a Pueblo D70 school that graduated 48 seniors in 2023, had a four-year graduation rate of 98.0%, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

Despite having much larger student bodies, their district counterparts, Pueblo County High School and Pueblo West High School, had graduation rates that weren't far behind Rye. Pueblo County graduated 95.5% of its students in four years and Pueblo West graduated 93.9%.

Central High School had a 2023 graduation rate of 91.5% — the highest rate of any high school in Pueblo D60. Dolores Huerta Preparatory High School, a Pueblo D60 charter high school, graduated 89.1% of its seniors in 2023.

Eight Pueblo-area schools had graduation rates above the state average. In Pueblo D70, in addition to Rye, Pueblo County and Pueblo West, Swallows Charter Academy High School saw a graduation rate of 91.7%.

In Pueblo D60, in addition to Central and Dolores Huerta, South High School topped the state average with a rate of 87% and East High School saw a rate of 84.2%.

Centennial High School had a graduation rate of 80.5% and the D70 Alternative Learning Academy graduated 68.3% of its students in four years. Dutch Clark Digital Online at Paragon improved its graduation rate 12% — from 39.9% in 2022 to 51.9% in 2023.

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Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Here's how Pueblo schools improved their graduation rates in 2023