Original Research by School Decision on Hagen Early Education Center
Hagen Early Education Center serves only prekindergarten students, so it sits outside most of the usual academic indicators that parents rely on to evaluate a school. There are no state assessment results, no graduation rate, no chronic absenteeism metric, and no civil rights data. That is not a weakness in the school itself. Prekindergarten programs in Colorado are not included in the state testing system, and the school does not serve grades that produce a graduation rate. A parent looking at Hagen needs to judge it on different terms than a school serving older children.
The school is part of the School District No. Re-1 Valley, based in Sterling, Colorado. The district recently added a SmartLab to each of its schools, starting with the school year that began in 2024. That means Hagen children now have access to a project-based learning program with a STEM focus, even at the prekindergarten level. It is a concrete offering that sets a clear academic direction for the youngest students in the district.
Hagen is a regular public school. It is not a charter school, and there is no information indicating a magnet designation or Title I status, though that status may be unrecorded for this grade level. The student body is large enough to form multiple classroom groups. The majority of students are white, with a substantial Hispanic population comprising a notable share of the enrollment. More than six in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which signals that the school serves a community with significant economic need. The data on students with disabilities and English learners is missing, so a parent cannot determine from this information how much special education support or language instruction is in place.
Sterling itself is a mixed-use regional hub in northeastern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska. It has a traditional downtown along Main Street, anchored by the domed Logan County Courthouse, and it hosts Northeastern Junior College, a regional medical center, and a state correctional facility. The economy draws on health care, education, retail, agriculture, and oil and natural gas activity in the nearby Denver-Julesburg Basin. The city has been losing population, with a decline noted in recent estimates. Housing values in the area are well below the state benchmark, and rents are moderate relative to incomes. The trip to Denver is a significant distance via Interstate 76, and the nearest commercial airport is Denver International, far from town. For families considering a move, Sterling offers lower housing costs than much of Colorado, but also a contracting population and limited job growth in some sectors.
Hagen Early Education Center is a prekindergarten facility in a district that has invested in new curriculum tools for all grade levels. It operates in a small city that serves as a commercial and institutional center for a large rural region, with housing that is affordable relative to the state but with a population that is not growing. A parent considering this school should reach out directly to ask about special education services, English learner supports, and the specific daily structure of the prekindergarten program, because the available data does not answer those questions.
See more original research from School Decision →