Best Private Schools in Denver – 2023

When evaluating a prospective private school, the college preparation and counseling offered by each future high school is one important consideration. This forward-thinking lens remains useful even if your child is presently entering private school as an elementary or middle school student. Of course, in addition to that particular angle, you will also need to balance your teen’s academic, emotional, and social needs with financial and logistical considerations. However, College Transitions’ list of the Best Private Schools in Denver will focus primarily on our area of expertise—college admissions. As such, we will highlight the job that each of the schools do at sending their graduates on to the region/nation’s premier 4-year schools.

Please note that inclusion on our Best Private Schools in Denver list is a selective and criteria-based process. However, the order in which the schools appear is not representative of any further ranking; the numbering is solely intended to enhance the ease of navigating this resource. All of the schools profiled below have a history of sending graduates to the top colleges in the country. For each of the best private schools in Denver, College Transitions will provide you with the:

• Location
• Tuition (9-12)
• Enrollment (9-12)
• Average SAT Score
• Average ACT Score
• Senior Class Size
• College Admissions Highlights
• Academic Highlights

Let’s begin our exploration of the best private schools in Denver.

1) Kent Denver School

Location: 4000 E Quincy Ave, Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113

Tuition (9-12): $36,920

Enrollment (seniors): 115

Average SAT Score: 1393

Average ACT Score: 30

College Admissions Highlights:

In the last four years, multiple students have matriculated into Amherst (2), UCLA (6), UChicago (5), Claremont McKenna (5), Dartmouth (6), Cornell (4), Duke (4), Hamilton (4), UMich (12), Northwestern (10), Penn (7), Princeton (5), Harvard (3), Tufts (9), Stanford (6), Notre Dame (4), Brown (5), and MIT (2).

Academic Highlights:

• Offers two AP CS classes as well as other advanced classes in the discipline.
• 91% of AP test-takers score a 3 or better.
• Offers Mandarin Chinese.
• 29% identify as students of color.
• 70% of teachers possess advanced degrees in their disciplines.

2) Colorado Academy

Location: 3800 S Pierce St, Denver, CO 80235

Tuition (9-12): $36,970

Enrollment (seniors): 105

Average SAT Score: 1310

Average ACT Score: 29

College Admissions Highlights:

In the last four years, multiple students have matriculated into: Bates (3), BU (%), Claremont McKenna (4), Colgate (6), Colorado College (15), Cornell (3), Dartmouth (7), Hamilton (3), Harvard (2), NYU (3), Northwestern (6), Pomona (2), Stanford (5), Swarthmore (4), Tulane (14), USC (10), UVA (5), WashU (8), and Yale (3).

Academic Highlights:

• Foreign language offerings include French, Spanish, and Chinese.
• AP Computer Science courses are offered along with electives in Python, SQL, Swift, etc.
• 93% play competitive sports.
• 32% identify as students of color.
• 100% of students are admitted to a 4-year college.

3) Dawson School

Location: 10455 Dawson Dr, Lafayette, CO 80026

Tuition (9-12): $31,790

Enrollment (seniors): 53

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1280-1500

Mid-50% ACT Score: 25-32

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2020-2022, Dawson grads enrolled at Babson, Barnard, Berklee College of Music, BC, BU, Brown, Claremont McKenna, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Macalester, NYU, Northwestern, UMich, UNC Chapel Hill, USC, Wake Forest, WashU, Wesleyan, and Williams.

Academic Highlights:

• 4 students received National Merit recognition in 2022; 38 were named AP Scholars.
• 30% of the Class of 2022 earned over a 4.0.
• The average class size is 15.
• 71% of faculty members possess advanced degrees.
• 7:1 student-to-teacher ratio.

Best Private Schools in Denver (Continued)

4) Denver Jewish Day School  

Location: 2450 S Wabash St, Denver, CO 80231

Tuition (9-12): $25,700

Enrollment (9-12): 57

Average SAT Score: 1365

Average ACT Score: 27

College Admissions Highlights:

DJDS has sent graduates on to Barnard, Bowdoin, Caltech, Carleton, Colorado College, Cornell, Dartmouth, Emory, Georgetown, NYU, Northwestern, Swarthmore, Tufts, UCLA, UChicago, UMich, Penn, Vassar, WashU, and UVA.

Academic Highlights:

• 50% of teachers possess advanced degrees.
• 58% of the Class of 2022 earned a 3.5 or above.
• The average class size is 15 students.
• 70% of students play team sports.
• 8 AP courses are offered.

5) Regis Jesuit High School

Location:  6300 S Lewiston Way, Aurora, CO 80016

Tuition (9-12): $21,850

Enrollment (9-12): 1,714

Average SAT Score: 1239 (Boys); 1256 (Girls)

Average ACT Score: 25.9 (Boys); 25.3 (Girls)

College Admissions Highlights:

Members of the Class of 2022 enrolled at colleges such as Amherst, BC, BU, Bowdoin, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Middlebury, NYU, Northwestern, Stanford, UChicago, UMich, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Vassar, and Wake Forest.

Academic Highlights:

• The average class size is 21.
• 13:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
• Employs 5 full-time college counselors.
• 99 of the 132 faculty members possess advanced degrees.
• 28 AP classes are on the menu.

6) St. Mary’s Academy

Location: 4545 S University Blvd, Englewood, CO 80113

Tuition (9-12): $27,640

Enrollment (9-12): 255

Average SAT Score: 1240

Average ACT Score: 25.8

College Admissions Highlights:

In the last four years, multiple students have attended the following schools: Bates, Brown, Carleton, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Duke, Emory, Hamilton, McGill, MIT, NYU, Northwestern, Occidental, Rice, Tufts, Tulane, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UChicago, UMiami, UMich, USC, UT Austin, Vanderbilt, WashU, William & Mary, and Williams.

Academic Highlights:

• Mary’s is an all-girls school.
• 86% of faculty members possess advanced degrees.
• 78% of students earned an unweighted GPA of 3.75 or higher.
• Students volunteer at least 100 total hours.
• There are 27 AP courses offered.

7) Fountain Valley School

Location: 6155 Fountain Valley School Rd, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80911

Tuition (9-12): $69,950 (Boarding); $37,500 (Day)

Enrollment (9-12): 235

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

Multiple students from the Classes of 2019 to 2022 have matriculated into: Barnard (2), Brandeis (2), Case Western (2), Colgate (2), Colorado College (3), Dartmouth (2), Emory (2), Hamilton (2), NYU (5), Northeastern (3), Stanford (2), UMiami (2), Notre Dame (2), USC (2), Vassar (2), and Wellesley (2).

Academic Highlights:

• There are 164 boarding students and 79 day students.
• 6:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
• The average class size is just 11 students.
• 63% of teachers hold advanced degrees.
• 38% are students of color.

Best Private Schools in Denver (Continued)

8) Mullen High School

Location: 3601 S Lowell Blvd, Denver, CO 80236

Tuition (9-12): $16,850

Enrollment (seniors): 213

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

The Class of 2022 earned acceptance into colleges such as Barnard, Boston College, Carnegie Mellon, Duke, Fordham, Georgetown, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UMich, Notre Dame, UT Austin, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Washington & Lee, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Academic Highlights:

• Employs 3 full-time college counselors.
• Students come from 87 different zip codes.
• The Class of 2022 earned $30 million in merit scholarship offers.
• Last year’s grads completed 20,000 hours of community service.
• Received offers of admission from 77% of colleges to which they applied.

9) Valor Christian High School

Location: 3775 E Grace Blvd, Highlands Ranch, CO 80126

Tuition (9-12): $23,050

Enrollment (seniors): 929

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: 25

College Admissions Highlights:

Recent Valor grads headed to schools such as the US Air Force Academy, Baylor, Stanford, Purdue, Pepperdine, UCLA, TCU, the University of Denver, Vanderbilt, and Villanova.

Academic Highlights:

• 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
• 78 of the 118 faculty members hold advanced degrees.
• The Class of 2023 included 11 National Merit winners.
• The Class of 2022 earned $4.6 million in collective merit scholarship offers.
• 84% attend out-of-state colleges.

10) Holy Family High School

Location: 5195 W 144th Ave, Broomfield, CO 80023

Tuition (10-12): $14,500

Enrollment (seniors): 172

Mid-50% SAT Score: 990-1270

Mid-50% ACT Score: 19-26

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2018-2021, HFHS grads matriculated into Bucknell, Cal Poly SLO, Case Western, Colgate, Dartmouth, FSU, Haverford, Northwestern, Pepperdine, SCU, US Military Academy, UNC Chapel Hill, Notre Dame, Villanova, Vanderbilt, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Academic Highlights:

• 24 AP courses are offered along with 22 honors classes.
• 90% of the student population is Catholic.
• 85% of teachers hold advanced degrees.
• The average class size is 19 students.
• 11:1 student-to-teacher ratio.

Best Private Schools in Denver – Additional Resources

We hope you found our blog on private schools in Denver to be helpful. All high school students and families may wish to explore further information regarding the college search and admissions process at our Dataverse, Blog, and List-Building Tool.