The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in English language arts. The lowest is 30% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on St. Vrain Launched Virtual Academy
St. Vrain LaunchED Virtual Academy is a fully online public school within the St. Vrain Valley School District, serving students from kindergarten through twelfth grade from a base in Longmont. It is a regular school, not a charter, and it covers the entire K–12 spectrum in a virtual setting, which is less common among online programs that often specialize in certain grade bands. The school’s enrollment is modest for a school spanning all grades, with a student body that is roughly half White and about two-fifths Hispanic, along with smaller shares of students who are Asian, Black, multiracial, or Native American. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are learning English were not available in the records examined.
State testing results come with an important caveat. Only a small fraction of the school’s enrolled students in grades three through eight took the Colorado Measures of Academic Success assessments. The participation rate in math and English language arts was low, meaning the reported proficiency rates reflect a narrow slice of the student body. Among those who did test, proficiency in math was below the midpoint, and proficiency in ELA was somewhat higher but still below the midpoint compared to the broader set of schools in Boulder County districts. Science results for grades five and eight were suppressed because too few students participated to report a rate. When the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades is averaged, it sits in the bottom quartile relative to other schools in Boulder County districts. Because the tested group is so small, a parent may want to talk with the school about how it monitors academic progress for all students and whether the state test results are representative of the full student experience.
No graduation rate was available in the data, even though the school serves twelfth grade. That gap could reflect the nature of a virtual program where cohort tracking may differ, but a family considering the school for high school would want to ask directly about on-time graduation rates and postsecondary pathways. Information on course offerings, AP or dual-credit access, career programs, staffing ratios, and discipline records was not provided, so those aspects cannot be characterized here.
Longmont itself is a mid-sized Front Range city that has shifted from an agricultural past toward technology and manufacturing, with a revived downtown featuring restaurants and breweries. The larger St. Vrain Valley School District recently won voter approval for a substantial capital bond to fund construction and renovations across its schools, though that investment is unlikely to directly change the virtual academy’s facility. The school offers a family the flexibility of a fully online education within a district that also operates many brick-and-mortar schools. Given the sparse testing participation and the below-average results among those tested, the school warrants a closer look from families who want to understand how their child would be assessed and supported in a remote learning environment.
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