Highline Academy SOUTHEAST

2170 South Dahlia Street

School District

Denver County 1
Grade

K-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:11
Type

charter

School Map for Denver County 1 School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on January 15, 2025

My granddaughter goes to school in tears every single day to this terrible place! The bullying that goes on in this school is despicable! If your child is a "BULLY", he or she will do very well in this environment! If your child is kind and caring he or she will fail miserably! Think twice about having your children go to this place. I wish we would have. In process of finding another much better school now. Ya'll wonder why enrollment is going down...It's because of the BULLYING that goes on in the schools that we all pay for! Except here...Here is where all the delinquents tend to go and evidently are welcomed and allowed to continue their evil ways! I feel bad that I don't have even one good thing to say about this place...but I just don't! I hope my granddaughter will once again love school...like she did before attending here. Shameful!
Submitted by parent on November 14, 2024

We have two children at Highline and have been there as a family for six years already. Our kids are doing great and we have built a great community with other families.
Submitted by other on September 27, 2024

If you are looking for a good school, this is not it. Do not let yourself be fooled by the media, they have a committee that looks for that kinda coverage to get more money from sponsors. Teachers can be nice, but the administration is a disaster. Look somewhere else.
Submitted by parent on July 05, 2023

This is a school that has very good educators, people with a vocation for service, the school is run by its teachers. It does not have a leader, there is no leadership, so do not expect them to comply with what they offer you, the offers are invalidated and if your child has a 504 plan, this school will not apply it, it will not evaluate it and it will not follow up, they do not have staff for this. If it occurs to you to claim, they will treat you like crazy or it will be fault of the Covid and the staff (directive) bounces me around like a ball. They shamelessly disrespect you as a father. The mental health of students is not the priority of this school. And, Immigrant, be careful here is white privileged, discriminate and exclude. The board and principals of this school handles the laws, the procedures of "discipline" in a corrupt and convenient waythe.
Submitted by other on June 11, 2023

This school is not a good one I tell you. The staff make everything your fault. They ignore the fact that your child can do stuff the other kids can. For example, my child was put in MLE even though she was born in America. What I mean is that my child speaks a second language, but she knows English too. Do not got to this school.
Submitted by other on March 04, 2021

Highline Academy is a K-8 DPS school that was awarded the National Blue Ribbon School award for academics for 2020. Only four Colorado schools received this high honor this year. If you are looking for an academic, whole-child, K-8 experience for your child, please consider Highline.Some things I love about Highline Academy as a parent:Spanish taught from Kindergarten through 8th grade 2x/weekUniformsSmall class sizes and performance grouping for math and literacyAnti-racism education adopted in the classroom 1x/weekLibrary class 1x/weekMusic/PE/Art each 1x/weekSocial/emotional learning 2x/weekNo worries about school choice for middle schoolDiverse student body representing many countries and languagesSupportive, caring teachers and staff - even the principal knows every student's name!Positive Behavior reinforcement for kids (PBIS) and REACH valuesGrade-level Parent Ambassadors to welcome and be a friendly face for new familiesCarline for pickup and dropoff - no parking and getting out of the car to pick up kidsThere are so many great things going on at the school, please check out their thorough website to learn more.www.highlineacademy.orgThank you for your time!
Submitted by parent on September 28, 2018

Excellent - so thankful for the teachers and administrators at Highline. They have helped all three of my children thrive.
Submitted by parent on April 30, 2018

I was very hesitant about this school right from the beginning. We really didn't have options because we just moved from out of state. At the beginning of the school year, things started to look good. The "concept" apparently seemed a good one, my son was happy, and we were hopeful. But then things started to to go south. I believe they put way to much emphasis in things that really don't matter and are completely oblivious about educating on things that do. It's not all about academics. (which aren't that great anyway). ONE example would be things like the uniform, which makes no sense to me. What I mean about it is that they have so many guidelines that you HAVE to follow (which in my eyes is completely ridiculous) and is a waste of so much of their time and energy checking that everybody follows, that they should instead be focussing on other situations like bullying and truly educating. (how important is it for a kid to have his shirt tucked in is beyond me).Instead of letting kids explore, question, inquire and disagree and actually be, they want to fit all kids in the same shape and size of box and use archaic methods of teaching. Again, we haven't experienced any other DPS schools, but from the looks of it, Highline is just another public school.
Submitted by parent on March 31, 2018

1 out of 10. If you are interested in structure, communication, and or a consistent learning environment this is not the school for you or your child. Very disappointing experience.
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2018

It's good as long as you have no problems. In the end it's still DPS and no better then the rest
Submitted by parent on September 13, 2017

I know from my discussions with a few other parents that there has been some concern about the new leadership at Highline.I just wanted everyone to know that this school year we have dealt with a new assistant principle who has been mistreating a special needs child as well as a new principle who as been aggressive.Needless to say this is not at all what we want to see at Highline. My wife and I believe in Highline's vision and what Highline has been trying to do in our community. This is why we chose for our special needs child to go there when we had other options. It is also why when our younger child was thriving at another school, we took him out of the other school and brought him to Highline Academy this year. I did not anticipate that this was going to be the result.Today there is a letter going to the school board about what has been happening and I'm hoping that it turns things around as I really love that school and the teachers there are phenomenal. I wanted to let the community know what was going on in case anyone else was having similar issues.
Submitted by parent on January 26, 2017

My son is in kindergarten at Highline and is having a great experience. I love that he's happy every day to go to school and he's also learning so much. He is fully reading now and since the school offers performance groups he's not only in a smaller class for reading and math, but he's also excelling because his teachers are able to teach to his level and meet his needs. I also love that there are clear rules with a system of rewards and consequences and a focus on character using the Reach traits. My son received an award just yesterday for reaching out and he was the proudest kindergartener ever! I'm an administrator in DPS and would definitely recommend this school to any fellow colleague or friend!
Submitted by parent on January 26, 2017

My 3 boys all attended Highline, and I could not imagine a better experience. They were challenged, and developed a passion for learning and critical thinking. They have moved on to high school, and are in the top 10% of their sophomore class and excelling in honors and AP courses. Highline gets a lot of the credit for that!While the academics are top notch, it pales in comparison to the effect the school had on them as persons. They learned a respect for other cultures, races and children of different backgrounds that is priceless!
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2014

Highline Academy is a great school for academics, however my one star review is in regards to student safety. My son is autistic and the teachers and staff are very much aware of his needs. Last week my son at release time was able to walk out passed the front desk out the front doors to the school and began to wonder down the busy streets the school borders including a freeway. This is the biggest fear for a parent. We are fortunate that my wife was on campus that day. She was volunteering for another classroom and asked his teacher to have him sent their to meet her. When he did not show she looked for him. She asked staff to assist her however they were "busy" and did not assist. She eventually found him wondering the streets that border the school I have left message for the school to contact me to discuss the matter and they have not since returned my calls or emails. It has been 4 days since the incident occurred. I am incredibly disappointed as a parent and am very concerned that the school has the student's safety in mind if this can happen.
Submitted by parent on November 18, 2014

The school is great academically. My kindergartner has become a proficient reader in just a few weeks at the school, and the interdisciplinary math is excellent. Despite the excellent academics, the terrible communication from the school has caused us to start looking for another school for next year. The lack of communication, unclear or untimely communication about events, car line process, test results, everything is institution-wide and is frustrating to a fault. The most recent example occurred today. I just received a voicemail telling us that the annual Thanksgiving dinner/lunch times were changed. This is the first time I have heard of a Thanksgiving dinner/lunch and the message is that the times have changed--but the original times were never communicated. Notification of an event two days before it occurs is frustrating, especially for working parents who are notified about a working-hours event just two days before. And as a kicker, the event still isn't listed on the website, so even proactive parents that check the website are left out of the loop. Parents of kindergartners/new students beware.
Submitted by other on April 02, 2014

Highine Academy is a gem in education. The teachers are incredibly dedicated, skilled and focused on making sure they see that students are learning targeted and meaningful objectives. Watching instructors--and the students--in action is liking watching a documentary on how education should always look. The students are respectful, motivated and having a good time truly mastering skills and knowledge that they need for college, career and success.
Submitted by parent on March 28, 2014

My children are in 5th and 6th grade now and have been with Highline since kindergarten. We love the school and I have recommended it to many parents. The staff is great and the teachers have been so supportive of our kids. Both are performing above grade level in literacy and one in math as well. There are parents who send their children to Highline that are teachers at the public schools in our neighborhood because they like Highline so much better than the schools where they teach. I think that says a lot about what a great school Highline is!
Submitted by parent on October 18, 2013

We joined the Highline family this fall. My son is in 1st grade. I thought the transition would be tough, but he loves school! The teachers have been amazing and supportive. Highline focuses on the needs of the children and has performance groups. These groups allow children to learn at at their pace and in their levels. We are so happy to be able to attend Highline!
Submitted by parent on September 10, 2013

I chose this school because of its focus on not only academics but also character development. It is highly diverse in its student population and has some diversity in its teachers as well. The teaching staff are motivated and encouraging. They LOVE their jobs and they speak so highly of the students. My daughter is in middle school now and I believe the teaching team is really in tune with the teenagers they teach. They know what interests them, the teachers meet the students at their level and then the teachers push them to advance. The administrative staff are very supportive as well and since it is a smaller school they seem to know all of the kids' names! My daughter has done so well at Highline and she is always eager to return to school after breaks. I would HIGHLY recommend this school to any family and have done so!