City: Denver, CO

Category: Education

Telephone: (303) 655-2900

Address: 18551 E. 160th Ave.

Description: The closest thing to a small-­town, country-­school district in Metro Denver, Brighton Public Schools (District 27J) serves about 240 square miles of farmland around the 21,000 population of Brighton, the Adams County seat. As a school district, Brighton’s enrollment is the second-­smallest in Metro Denver. The district has five elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, one charter school, and one alternative school. Just about half of Brighton’s teaching staff has master’s degrees. The dropout rate is the Denver area’s second highest. In accordance with state law, District 27J is developing content standards for all academic areas. Included in this effort toward Standards Based Education is the improvement of instructional techniques as well as the assessment of skills and knowledge learned. The average composite ACT score for Brighton students is 17.5. The district’s schools offer enrichment programs including bilingual education, programs in basic skills, and accelerated education.