The staff and boards overseeing Archuleta County’s public schools recently considered the district’s and schools’ spring 2026 standardized assessments.
Archuleta School District (ASD) and Superintendent Rick Holt reflected on the district’s results on the Colorado Measure of Academic Success (CMAS), PSAT and SAT via press release, with the Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS) Board of Directors and School Director Emily Murphy discussing PPOS’s CMAS results on Sept. 16.
ASD
In a press release, ASD highlights student growth in the assessment data, as well as the fact that all district schools earned a performance rating.
Highlights included by the district in the press release are:
• For the past three years, ASD students in the third through eighth grades have demonstrated growth at or above the state average in both English language arts (ELA) and math.
• Fourth-grade students showed the largest growth in proficiency, increasing by 14 percent in ELA and 16 percent in math from the previous year.
• Sixth-grade students demonstrated growth above the statewide median in both ELA (61) and Math (74), compared with the state’s median growth of 50 in both subjects.
• SAT math median growth was significantly higher than the state average at 68 (versus the state’s score of 50).
The press release further notes ASD also saw improved student performance in areas.
“At the high school level, ASD’s average SAT scores increased in both Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Math,” it states. “With these scores, ASD exceeded the state average in both subjects for the first time in five years.”
“These results give us a lot to celebrate as we start the year and reflect on the summative work that has brought us to this point,” Holt said. “While we can’t attribute improvement to any one effort, we can look at the collective work we’ve done to improve student outcomes. We’ve remained focused on high-quality instruction, strong curriculum and relationships, and aligning the rigor of classroom learning with grade-level expectations. Our cellphone policy has also helped create learning environments where students can focus more fully on teaching and learning.”
The press release indicates district and school leaders will use the results to identify areas where current practices should be maintained and areas requiring additional instructional focus.
“We need to look carefully at where students are performing at high levels, where we need to maintain that progress and where we need to put additional time, energy, and resources so that all students have access to rigorous grade-level learning and exceptional teaching,” Holt said.
Holt also credits district teachers and staff for their continued work with students.
“So much of our success relies on the dedication and individual efforts of our teachers,” Holt said. “Our school district thrives because we have a community of people who care deeply about our students and their success. These results give us reason to celebrate their work while continuing to focus on the students and areas where we have more work to do.”
PPOS
During the Sept. 16 PPOS Board of Directors meeting, School Director Emily Murphy presented the school’s CMAS results to the board, as well as school’s performance rating.
In her written report, Murphy highlights:
• Strong academic growth in the middle school (sixth through eighth grades), which achieved a “Meets” rating for academic growth.
She also notes the middle school exceeded growth benchmarks, with the middle school ELA median growth percentile (MGP) being 54.0, which “Meets state expectations” and the math MGP being 55.0, which also meets state expectations.
• Free/reduced-price lunch-eligible students achieved a 56.0 MGP in ELA and a 53.5 MGP in math, earning a meets rating in both areas.
• Overall, the elementary (third through fifth grade) academic growth received an “Approaching” rating with 48.8 percent of points.
The elementary achieved an MGP of 45.0 in ELA and 41.0 in math.
Murphy also that the school received an official rating of “performance plan” on the performance framework with 54.7 percent of overall points earned.
Murphy noted this is the first time PPOS has received that rating, which is up from last year’s “improvement rating” with 50.8 percent of overall points being earned.
Murphy explained that when breaking down the “performance plan” rating, the middle school of PPOS received 62.4 percent of overall points, earning a “performance rating,” which is up from last year’s report with the middle school earning 50.8 percent of overall points and designated as an “improvement rating.”
She also explained that the elementary school at PPOS increased from 39.3 percent last year to 47.1 percent this year, “which is an improvement rating.”
>