Durango School District 9-R Home

We help them find their path to success
 
Portrait of a Graduate
  • 95%
    Graduation rate at Durango High School
  • 29
    Home languages spoken by students
  • 3
    Schools awarded Governor’s Distinguished Improvement
  • 20%
    CMAS test scores rank in top 20% of all Colorado Schools
Durango High School grads

About Us

Welcome to Durango School District 9-R. We strive to create a learning environment where all students own their learning, act on their learning, and impact their community. We provide learning opportunities where students develop their critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills. 
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Students examine seedling
Where we’re located
Durango School District map

District News

person using laptop

Public invited to Durango School District's Board Member Chat

The public is invited to meet with the Durango School District 9-R Board of Education on Oct. 22 from 5 to 6 p.m. for a virtual Board Member Chat. The event, hosted by Board President Kristin Smith and Vice President Erika Brown, will be held via Zoom.
Bond postcard

Board approves ballot language of $150M bond measure

August 27, 2024, Durango, Colo. – The Durango School District 9-R Board of Education unanimously voted to approve ballot language for a $150 million bond measure that will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. This decision was made during the Board’s meeting on Aug. 27.
four students standing together

October Youth Mental Health Courses

Families, do you want information on youth mental health? Join live caregiver webinars developed by licensed therapists. Events are FREE, virtual, interactive, and designed to help families support their children. Registration, attendance, and interactions are anonymous from other viewers.
people in circle playing Native game

All are welcome to attend the first Native Traditional Games

Join us for an exciting celebration of culture and community at the inaugural Native Traditional Games, hosted by Durango School District on Indigenous Peoples' Day, Oct.14, starting at 5:30 p.m. The event will be held at Fanto Park, next to Park Elementary School (445 E. 7th Ave).
Pencil resting on a test sheet

District shows positive growth in state rankings

Durango School District is celebrating positive momentum in 2023-2024 state frameworks, with improved performance ratings and continued success in student achievement and graduation rates. This data highlights the district's dedication to academic excellence and community support.
teacher and student working on computer

5 Key Points to Understanding District Performance

The preliminary 2024-25 ratings are available on the CDE Performance Frameworks Results webpage and the school and district dashboard. Based on the data from the CDE, here are five key points showing positive growth for the district:
people in meeting, laptops on table

Join the Inclusive Excellence Guiding Coalition

The Durango School District Inclusive Excellence Guiding Coalition exists to inform, lead, and champion the diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) strategic plan and the Board of Education’s Operational Expectation, which aims to ensure students will graduate prepared for success in their choice of career and/or post-secondary education, able to compete in and contribute to the global community, and be motivated to continue the pursuit of knowledge throughout their lives.
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graduates

Our Mission

The mission of Durango School District 9-R is to ensure each student develops the skills and attributes for lifelong learning and has the ability to compete and contribute in the global community, by guaranteeing equitable educational opportunities in a safe and healthy environment.
Strategic Plan

What people say about us

Olivia Cruz, Headshot

TEACHER

“I get to work in a supportive environment with empathetic people who love what they do, and who genuinely care about student success.”

– Olivia Cruz, High School Science Teacher
Eduardo Gonzalez headshot

PARENT

“My kids have thrived in Durango schools because of the quality of instruction. The teachers in these schools do life-changing work.”

– Eduardo Gonzalez, parent of middle school student
Michaela Richardson headshot

STUDENT

“I have so many opportunities, and I have come to love school. Now I want to inspire others, and be on the Board to be that person that others can look up to.”

– Michaela Richardson, high school student and Student Board Member
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Superintendent

Superintendent's Message

Welcome to beautiful Durango and La Plata County! Our schools – and our community – are committed to ensuring all students reach proficiency in all content areas as well as have a high level of social-emotional well-being. Our primary objective in the Durango School District is to help every student achieve their life's purpose through Portrait of a Graduate. This is our district's "north star." It inspires students to find their Ikigai. This is a Japanese concept that incorporates four essential criteria: what you love (your passion), what the world needs (your mission), what you are good at (your vocation), and what you can get paid for (your profession). East meets West with this ancient philosophy in a modern mountain town.
Meet our district leaders

Universal Calendar

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Engineer Mountain in fall

Quality of Life

Durango is a beautiful place to live and work. It is located at 6,512 feet elevation in Southwest Colorado near the Four Corners region. Families who live here enjoy a historic steam train, ski resort, rivers, vibrant downtown, bike trails, sky-high “fourteener” mountains, and four distinct seasons with an average of 266 sunny days per year. We welcome new families and new staff members, and we offer excellent benefits and competitive salaries. 
Join our team
Teacher Elfreida Begay

Land Acknowledgement

We respectfully acknowledge that Durango School District 9-R is located on lands and territories taken from the Núuchiu (Ute) people. This land is also the ancestral home of or served as a site of trade, gathering, or healing for Apache, Pueblo, Diné, and other nations. We recognize and honor these peoples and nations as traditional stewards of this land and water and respect their enduring relationship with it.
Listen to the land acknowledgement in Diné Bizaad (Navajo language), spoken by Elfreida Begay

Accessibility Statement

It is the goal of Durango School District 9-R that the information on this website be accessible to individuals with visual, hearing, or cognitive disabilities. Good faith efforts are being made to ensure that our website complies with web accessibility standards.

Most pages on our site are available in HTML format, which can be read by screen readers. Some documents are in Adobe PDF format, requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded for free from the Adobe website. Additionally, some documents are in Google Docs, and Google Forms. Most modern browsers and screen readers can access Google-based documents. More information about Google web products accessibility can be found on the Google Accessibility website.

In order to ensure that Durango School District websites are accessible to everyone in our community, including those with disabilities, we are using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.

If you cannot access any page(s) on our site, please email us at [email protected]. Include the location of the webpage/document, your name, email address, and phone number so we can provide the information in another format, and address the issue.