About

Our small team of administrators is deeply student-centered in its approach. Their close-knit size enables them to know each student personally—their strengths, challenges, and needs. This insight allows them to effectively support teachers and staff in meeting students where they are. By partnering with parents and educators, administrators are able to support and challenge each student as a unique individual, helping them grow and achieve success.

Teachers and staff choose to be part of Collegiate Academy because our small, family-centered community fosters close partnerships with both parents and students. This environment allows educators to build strong, meaningful relationships and gain a deep understanding of each student—not just their strengths and challenges, but also the "why" behind their behavior and learning. With this insight, staff can tailor personal interventions that support growth in areas of need and nurture excellence where students thrive. Collaboration between home and school further strengthens our ability to provide holistic, whole-child support.

At Collegiate Academy, our intentionally small class sizes ensure that no student gets lost in the crowd. With average class sizes of just 12–15 students across all grade levels, our student-teacher ratios create the ideal setting for personalized instruction and meaningful relationships. Across the entire PK–12 program, we serve approximately 250 students—small enough for every child to be known and supported as an individual.

Because of our close-knit community, every staff member gets to know students beyond academics. We understand their strengths and struggles, hopes and dreams, extracurricular passions, and future goals. This deep knowledge allows us to partner with parents to develop strategies that promote growth, unlock potential, and ensure each student is on a clear path to success.

As you walk through our halls, you’ll not only see—but feel—the connection between faculty and students. Relationships at Collegiate Academy transcend grade levels, with students and staff supporting one another across the full PK–12 continuum. Over as many as 15 years, we grow alongside our families, united by a shared commitment to care, connection, and student success.

Our vision

Empower. Innovate. Lead.

Our mission

To encourage lifelong learners by providing a challenging curriculum through applied learning, leadership development, and civic engagement.

Values

Based on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s philosophy of self-reliance, Collegiate has developed four "Core Values" which guide our community on the path of self-reliance. Character education around these values is integrated in our classroom instruction and shared language, central to our positive behavior system and restorative conversations, and core to the shared commitment of staff members, parents and students. We seek to embody these values daily in school, but also outside our walls as leaders in our community, nation and world.

Our Core Values

Integrity: Collegiate students do the right thing regardless of whether anybody sees them. This value goes beyond honesty to require sincerity in communicating and living.

Perseverance: Our students see their problems as challenges, hurdles to overcome. They see their problems as weights to build strong character. By shifting the way they think about problems, Collegiate students change their thought patterns to improve their attitude and perception of a given situation.

Ownership: Collegiate students are held accountable and responsible for present and future actions. They take pride in the work they do and are honest with adults, peers and community members. When their work is strong, they showcase it, and when their work lags, they improve it by owning the notion that we can always do just a little better.

Quality: Our students follow the rule that no matter how great or small, one always puts his or her best effort forward. The notion of doing quality work is a confidence builder that improves our reputation with ourselves, our teachers, and our peers.

What is a charter school?

The first charter schools opened in Colorado over 20 years ago after Gov. Roy Romer signed the Colorado Charter Schools Act into law in 1993. Charter schools request and the state Department of Education approves waivers from state education law in certain areas; for example, textbooks, curriculum and sequence, school calendars, and many aspects of teacher contracts and unionization are waived for charter schools in Colorado. This allows for an entrepreneurial approach to education which results in innovation, competition and choice for parents and students.

What's different about charter schools? 

Charter schools are different from traditional neighborhood public schools in many ways. First, many charter schools limit their enrollment in order to create strong teacher to student ratios which promote a positive learning environment. Class sizes in neighborhood schools are often determined by formulas at the district level, resulting in ratios that despite teachers' best efforts, are not conducive to learning. Because charter school teachers are generally not unionized, public charters have been pioneers in extending the school calendar, both by offering longer school days and longer school years, which are research-proven approaches to improving student achievement which are generally opposed by teacher unions and contracts in traditional public schools. Charter schools can also offer an alternative to the extraneous and non-academic curricula of standardized public education. One example is the back-to-basics approach of the Core Knowledge endorsed curricula such as Saxon Math and FOSS Science, which eliminate the fluff and provide a focused and proven sequence of foundational principles in math and science which is expanded upon in a spiraled approach at each increasing grade level. Thee are just a few of the unique advantages of charter schools which allow us to challenge the status quo and offer an alternative to what mainstream education provides.

What's the same about charter schools? 

Charter schools are tuition-free public schools which do not require ability testing for enrollment. Charter schools are subject to the same state content standards as all other public schools, to the Every Student Succeeds Act accountability guidelines, and to the state-mandated testing, currently called CMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success) and PSAT/SAT. Colorado charter schools are demographically similar to their communities and to the neighborhood schools in their areas, although many charter schools attract students from a large geographic area. Charter schools provide Special Education, English as a Second Language, Gifted & Talented, and other programs similar to neighborhood schools.

Where does charter school funding come from? 

Charter schools are publicly funded by state and federal education dollars. Charters receive a percentage of what the state Department of Education proposed and the state legislature approves as "Per Pupil Revenue," or PPR. Charter schools are generally required to pay administrative fees to and purchase certain mandatory and optional services, such as special education services and resources, nursing and student health services, and access to assessment tools which are provided without fee to traditional district schools. Charter schools are also responsible for purchasing or leasing and maintaining their own facilities, additional costs of operation. As a result, charter schools have become experts at efficient operation and budget management, and rely on strong parent support and community engagement to raise additional funds for special projects not covered by PPR. 

Want more information?

The Colorado League of Charter Schools is a non-profit organization which has produced some great infographics to help readers understand charter schools in Colorado. Visit the Colorado League of Charter Schools website here.