The top reported proficiency rate is 11% in English language arts. The lowest is 3% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Ricardo Flores Magon Academy
Ricardo Flores Magon Academy is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Denver, operating under the State Charter School Institute. As a charter school within a major city, it sits in a densely populated area with extensive civic and economic infrastructure. The school’s enrollment is modest for its grade band, and the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with a very high share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on special education identification and English learner status was not reported.
State assessment results for the most recent year show proficiency rates that are very low in both math and English language arts, and similarly low in eighth-grade science. Fifth-grade science results were suppressed and not published. Participation rates on the tests were near total for the grades tested, meaning nearly every student took the exams. Looking across subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quarter when compared to all districts in Adams County. Because the school ends at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report.
The school’s academic performance is the central fact here. The rates of students scoring at proficient or above are small fractions of the tested population—roughly one in ten in English language arts and about one in thirty in math. For a parent considering this school, understanding why the results are this low and what the school is doing to address them would be an important conversation to have with staff. The school is a charter, which often means it has flexibility in curriculum and instruction, though publicly reported program offerings were not available in the data.
The surrounding city of Denver is a major economic and transportation hub, home to a diverse economy spanning telecommunications, aerospace, health care, and financial services, and it hosts the headquarters of several large firms. The city has a dense downtown with cultural institutions, numerous parks, and a growing population that has spread into surrounding suburban communities. Housing costs in the area have declined modestly in recent years, and rents have held fairly steady. Unemployment and median household income are at levels consistent with national trends. These conditions shape the broader context families live in, but the school itself draws from a high-poverty population that may face different circumstances.
No recent district-level changes were found for the State Charter School Institute, which oversees this school and other charters directly authorized by the state. That means there are no reported shifts in property-tax policy, curriculum mandates, or governance referendums to note.
Ricardo Flores Magon Academy is a small charter school in a large city, serving a predominantly Hispanic, low-income student body from kindergarten through eighth grade. Its state test results are very low relative to county norms, and a parent would want to look into what academic supports and instructional approaches are in place. The school’s charter status gives it some independence, but the data available offers no detail on programming, staffing, or discipline. The setting is urban Denver, with all the opportunities and complexities that come with that.
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