Erie High School (Colorado)

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Erie High School is a high school in Erie, Colorado. Erie is a part of the Saint Vrain Valley School District.

It was completed in 2005 and began operation in the fall of that year. The school was formed by the separation of Erie Middle & High School. Currently there are 500+ students attending the school with 100+ different classes to choose from, including CDC (Career Development Courses) which are taken in Longmont, Colorado where buses run every hour.

The building itself was designed to honor the town of Erie's mining history as, the color scheme is of the color of coal. The official colors of the school are orange and black and the mascot is the tiger.

Nestled in a quiet valley adjacent to Coal Creek, Erie has long been known as a town “off the beaten path.” With the opening of school in the fall of 2005, Erie High School moved from the original school building, built in 1929, to a brand new, state-of-the-art facility. The campus is set on 61 acres with a gorgeous view of the Front Range, an outstanding sporting facility, and a beautiful, high-tech auditorium that seats 600 people.

Due largely to the efforts of a highly dedicated and caring staff, an atmosphere of high academic expectations exists on the campus. While the school’s philosophy is focused on preparing all students for postsecondary options and on being sure that every student can move on and has been trained to do so, the entire faculty is specifically focusing on teaching writing across the curriculum, on mathematics skills, and on the integration of technology.

To support the writing goal, the Six-Traits Assessment Rubrics are used to assess student work in all curricular areas. Additionally, writing contests are held not only to encourage and support student writing but to also share student writing with the general public. In supporting the math goal, the math and science departments have teamed up to develop and integrate throughout their curriculums daily warmup and cool down activities designed around the CSAP assessment.

The staff has established a professional Learning Community in which members collaborate at their own grade levels as well as vertically to ensure alignment of standards and essential learnings. A strong accountability team serves as the guiding force in setting yearly and long-term goals.

Erie’s teaching staff, consisting of both innovative veteran and new teachers, is committed to finding ways to make education more accessible to all students every day. Achieving academic success for students involves a wide variety of instructional tools, strategies, and programs that include:

Erie High School offers a variety of course offerings with 24 new classes offered in the last four years, that provide choices for students at all levels and abilities. For those students reading below grade level, an additional 85 minutes of reading instruction is provided on a daily basis.

Honors classes offer preparation for students for college as well as for the AP courses offered. Unity Opportunity classes are designed for students who demonstrate a need for growth in one or more core area subjects. The Renaissance Program, the largest in Northern Colorado, rewards students for their academic performance and growth. Academic excellence is celebrated weekly and culminates in two major celebrations each year.

Erie High School offers a small school atmosphere that allows the staff to concentrate on the academic needs of every student.

Classes follow a four period alternating block schedule with classes meeting for 85 minutes every other day.

Erie High School is committed to improving reading by using a Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) period of 20 minutes daily for the entire building.

Erie High School works in a partnership with the School of Education at the University of Colorado allowing preservice teachers to have the opportunity to attend class, work in teachers’ classrooms, and meet classroom teachers as collaborators as practicum students and student teachers.

Front Range Community College offers courses on the Erie High School campus which are taught by the college's faculty members and plans on having evening courses available to community members.

Erie High School serves students who previously attended Erie Middle School, but because of an open enrollment policy welcomes students from around the region.