Many of our community members know that student learning is held in high regard in the Meeker School District. During the 2024-2025 school year, several external metrics showed outcomes validating that student learning is our primary goal. In the fall of 2024, we shared with our community that the Meeker School District has been Accredited with Distinction eight of the past nine years. Less than 10% of the school districts in the State of Colorado earn this accolade on an annual basis. Furthermore, our score on the 2024 accreditation ratings placed us as the top school district in Northwest Colorado and in the top 3% of all school districts in the state.
In May of 2025, we learned that Meeker High School had earned the John Irwin Schools of Excellence award from the Colorado Department of Education. This honor is only awarded to schools who significantly exceed the established expectations on state assessments. Also this spring, we have begun to realize tangible results from the extraordinary efforts made by Meeker Elementary School staff to improve reading outcomes for elementary students. In 2018, 23.1% of the kindergarten through third grade students at Meeker Elementary were identified with a significant reading deficiency (SRD). The SRD designation occurs when a student scores well below grade level expectations in reading. Through focused efforts and incredibly hard work, we have reduced this number to 7.7% in 2025. The statewide SRD average tends to hover around 20%, and SRD percentages have increased for the vast majority of school districts across the state in the past five years. We compare our data with 27 other school districts who are either in Northwest Colorado or are a similar size to Meeker but in a different part of the state. Of those 27 school districts, only Meeker and one other district reduced SRD percentages in the past 5 years. This is a phenomenal achievement made by our students and staff.
In addition to academic achievement, our community is well aware of the investments we have made over the past 15 years to ensure we have and maintain excellent facilities. We are also incredibly proud of how well our students represent our school and community through co-curricular and extracurricular activities. The longstanding tradition of success in these areas is second to none when compared to other public schools in Colorado.
None of these achievements occur without a well functioning governance system. As is the case in every odd numbered year, we will hold a school board election in the fall of 2025. Our current school board has embraced their governance role and has ensured through policy revisions and high level goal setting that we keep our vision statement, Excellence in All We Do, at the forefront of our planning. This fall the school board seats held by Hanna Borchard, Bill deVergie, Ann Franklin, and Tony Theos will all be up for election. All four incumbents have indicated they plan to seek reelection this fall. Our school district is grateful for thoughtful, non-biased individuals who are willing to give of their time and who embrace the governance culture created by our current board that has led to the outstanding successes outlined above.
By Chris Selle
Superintendent, Meeker School District