The top reported proficiency rate is 53% in English language arts. The lowest is 36% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Jenkins Middle School
Jenkins Middle School is a regular public school serving grades six through eight in the Colorado Springs School District 11, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway on the eastern side of the city. It is one of several middle schools in a district that spans this large, sprawling city.
Academically, Jenkins posted mixed but generally solid results on the Colorado Measures of Academic Success in the most recent testing year. In English language arts, more than half of students scored at proficient or above, a mark that suggests a majority of students are meeting grade-level expectations in reading and writing. Math proficiency fell below the halfway point, with roughly a third of students reaching that bar, making it a soft spot that a parent may want to look into further with the school. Science, which is assessed only in eighth grade, landed between the two — about two-fifths of students were proficient. When compared with other schools across El Paso County, Jenkins’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades landed in the top quarter, indicating that the school’s academic performance is relatively strong within the local context. Participation rates for the state tests were high in reading and math, and slightly lower in science.
The school enrolls a sizable student body for a middle school. Close to half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a common measure of household economic need. The student population is majority white, with a substantial Hispanic share and smaller groups of Black, Asian, multiracial, and Native American students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the provided records, so a family interested in those support areas would need to ask the school directly.
Jenkins sits within Colorado Springs, a large and growing city whose economy is anchored by military installations including Fort Carson, Peterson and Schriever Space Force Bases, Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Aerospace and defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are major employers, as is the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee headquarters. The city is car-dependent overall, with some walkable nodes downtown and in historic districts. The housing market in the school’s zip code area shows median home values in the mid-four-hundred-thousand-dollar range, with typical rents in the high teens per month. Home values in this area have edged down slightly in the past year, while rents have increased a bit. The city’s population grew substantially in the last decade and is estimated to continue rising, driven by the military presence and the region’s desirability.
The parent district, Colorado Springs D11, has made several changes that bear on the school experience. It raised the starting teacher salary and implemented broader pay increases across the district, a move aimed at improving teacher recruitment and retention. It also reduced the number of schools on state improvement status from nine to three, a signal of rising school performance. Additionally, the district launched the D11 Promise Scholarship in partnership with Pikes Peak State College, allowing high school students to take college-level courses at no cost — a program that may influence the middle school’s academic culture by pointing students toward a college-going path.
No data was available on discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, or course offerings at Jenkins Middle School. A family wanting a fuller picture of the school’s climate and resources would benefit from reaching out to the school directly or visiting.
In sum, Jenkins Middle School offers a decent academic profile relative to its county peers, with stronger results in English than in math, and sits within a district that is investing in teacher pay and early college access. The school serves a diverse, moderately low-income student body in a growing city where housing is moderately priced by national standards but high for the region. A parent should weigh the math proficiency data and the gaps in available non-academic metrics when considering this school.
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