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Growth & Decline

The Challenge of Enrollment Growth and Decline

  • In communities that do not have a neighborhood school close by, DCSD is busing students to elementary schools outside of their neighborhood which is leading to crowding in those overflow schools.

  • On the other hand, there are neighborhoods within Highlands Ranch where families moved in and settled 20-plus years ago and no longer have school-aged children. In those areas, some of DCSD’s elementary schools are projected to continue to have fewer and fewer students.
  • Overflowing schools and shrinking schools result in limiting opportunities for students.
  • DCSD is reaching a point where not only does it need to build elementary schools in fast-growing, new developments, it also needs to “right-size” some existing schools to maximize educational opportunities for our students.

Like many school districts across Colorado, the Douglas County School District is facing enrollment challenges.

What makes Douglas County unique, however, is that while we have some areas of declining enrollment, we have other areas experiencing massive growth (for example, Sterling Ranch and RidgeGate).

Because our school district is over 850 square miles – we are simultaneously working to address both growth and decline. It is a priority of the Douglas County School District to ensure that every student, whether in a growing community or aging community, has access to all of the amazing opportunities that our school district has to offer.Growth and decline discussions have been underway in our community for nearly two years and any decisions will continue to be made with transparency and community input.

The school district is currently considering pairing up to six elementary schools (which would result in the closure of up to three total schools) within Highlands Ranch. Decisions regarding which schools would potentially close would take place in April 2025 – with any consolidations becoming effective for the 2026-2027 school year.  More information including a detailed timeline can be found below.

Douglas County community members were encouraged to attend numerous meetings to discuss and provide feedback on criteria for elementary school consolidations resulting in the closure of up to three elementary schools in the Highlands Ranch area.

To learn more about the school consolidations, including what programs will move into buildings that will no longer be neighborhood elementary schools, visit our Growth and Decline webpage.

All materials, meeting materials, presentations and decision documents from the 2024-25 school year, including the decisions about which schools would be consolidated, visit our Growth and Decline Archive page and the FAQ page.