5 public K-12 schools in Sterling from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
5 public schools ranked by quality score. NCES CCD 2024-25 data.
The highest-ranked of Sterling's 5 public schools is Sterling High School, scoring 51/100, against a city average of 38.2/100. Computed live across every Sterling campus reporting to NCES.
How the Sterling Public-School Landscape Breaks Down
Sterling, CO enrolls 1,667 students across 5 public schools reporting to the National Center for Education Statistics. The average student-teacher ratio across the city is 19.8:1, and the composite quality score, derived from student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted-program availability, and CRDC attendance data, averages 38.2/100. Schools must report at least five campuses in a city to appear in this listing, which is why very small towns may redirect to the broader county or state view.
The most-resourced campus in Sterling on this index is Sterling High School, at 51/100 on the Resource Investment Index with 421 enrolled students. What the index does and doesn't measure; click any school below for its full component breakdown.
Sterling spans 1 district, each filing its own NCES F-33 return, per-pupil spending can vary between neighbouring campuses. Sort the table below by enrollment, level, or district; click any school for its full profile.
Sterling High School accounts for 25.3% of all Sterling public-school enrollment
That concentration means Sterling-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade level: High. A dominant campus often anchors a city's program landscape and absorbs a disproportionate share of district capital and staffing decisions. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Sterling school enrollment varies 3.6× across entities
Sterling school enrollment ranges from 117 students (lowest) to 421 students (highest), a spread of 304 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. Per-school staffing, programme depth, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same city based on enrollment shape, a 200-student magnet runs a different operational model than a 2,000-student comprehensive high school.
Sterling operates only 1 school district — one of the single most consolidated governance structures in the country
Most Sterling school districts are a single unified district covering the whole city, a structural feature that simplifies inter-school comparison but concentrates policy authority, and the count here is near the floor observed nationally. Consolidation produces narrower variance because resources pool across a large population, but it can also mask intra-school district inequities — sub-school district differences within a single school district are not visible at this aggregation level. Consolidated systems typically rely more heavily on top-down funding formulas than on local revenue variability.
Sterling student-teacher ratio is 19.8:1 — high (typically associated with larger urban scale or staffing constraints that have widened the headcount gap)
student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Sterling
Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.
The highest-ranked school in Sterling is Sterling High School with a quality score of 51/100. There are 5 public schools in Sterling with 1,667 total students.
How many schools are in Sterling, CO? ▼
Sterling has 5 public schools with a total enrollment of 1,667 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 19.8:1.
Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. Quality scores based on student-teacher ratio,
counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance. Schools must have 5+ in the city to be listed.
Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Read our methodology, which explains how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
