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Canon City High School
Canon City High School, nominated by Colorado Education Initiative and iLearn Collaborative, is a high school in Canon City, Colorado, that describes itself as a public district school serving learners from a primarily rural area.
Location Canon City, Colorado
Governance Public District School
Grades High
Students 900
Locale Rural
Principal Bill Summers
Demographics
Percentage of students*
1%
English Learners
50%
Free/Reduced Lunch
13%
Students with Disabilities
African American or Black 1%
American Indian/Alaska Native —
Asian 1%
Hawaiian or Pacific Islander —
Hispanic or Latino 17%
White 78%
2+ Races —
Why Canon City High School was nominated
Cañon City High School (CCHS) has a focus on equity, social emotional learning, and building student advocacy skills. Their Tiger Pathways program helps students navigate career pathways while also developing rigorous academic skills. Every student creates a capstone project with a driving question for their SELF Expo, where the community at large is welcomed into the building to share student success fostering a sense of belongingness and community (the SELF Exhibition is an annual event that showcases the knowledge and research projects of CaÒon City High School students. SELF stand for Student, Empowered, Learning, Framework. This is at the core for CCHSís goal to focus curriculum learning on a studentís personal interests and life goals). The community is also leveraged in a comprehensive student internship system; the goal is for every student to have an internship in the community related to their capstone project. The districtís vision is ìMaslowís Over Bloomî and the orientation of CCHS is toward providing support to students. During the 4-year capstone process, students have both a mentor and an advisor. In addition, CCHS uses a universal screening tool to assess the emotional needs of all students and has a well established team to respond to the needs that arise, An exemplar for implementation of school-wide blended learning instruction. Started well before COVID-19 impact. Started with defining vision and goals then backwards planning to create a needs-based approach including timelines, support and resources to reach goals. Accomplished in 2 years, what many other schools would have taken in 5 years or more. Has become an exemplar for blended learning in Colorado. Leadership was a key factor., CTE and work-based, meet portfolio capstones, for all students. Redesign of the only comprehensive high school in a rural community., Canon City High School offers the most compelling set of coherent, aligned career connected learning experiences to the students it serves that I have ever seen. Starting with robust career pathways which are core-curriculum aligned, to the comprehensive career and technical education program which results in 100s of industry certifications, to the P-TECH program, where students graduate with both a high school and associates degree, to the internship program, in which every student participates, to the "Capstone for All" graduation requirement - where every student demonstrates competence in the Canon City "Skills and Traits" graduate profile. There is even a "school within a school" Open Pathway for students who don't connect with the offered career pathways. This is the most complete, most equitable, and more authentic district school experience I know of.
Student experience design
Students can make considerable progress toward their career goals while receiving preventative and proactive SEL services. They also experience a traditional athletics and activities environment with robust curricular choices. We provide an extensive Early College opportunity and the state's premier CTE environment, earning 600+ industry-standard certifications for our students last year. Our band and choir are routinely top-5 finishers at state-level competitions, our JROTC program hosts 15% of the school population, and we have a rural innovation laboratory that rivals most.
Core Practices
| Core Practices | Length of Use |
|---|---|
|
Assessments For Agency And Self-directed Learning |
5+ years
|
|
Assessments For Career Readiness |
5+ years
|
|
Career Advising & Support |
5+ years
|
|
All Courses Designed For Inclusion |
5+ years
|
|
Internships |
5+ years
|
All Practices
Advancement On Mastery
Student Advisories
AI Literacy
AI For Learning Materials
AI For Teacher Productivity
AI-assisted Tutoring
Anti-racist Practices
Assessments For Deeper Learning
Assessments For Social-emotional Skills
Blended Learning
Career Exploration
Co-leadership
College Advising & Support
Community And Workforce Partnerships
Competency/mastery-based Education
Culturally Responsive Practices
Disaggregated Data On Student Participation
Early College High School
Extended Learning Time
Flexible Staffing & Alternative Teaching Roles
Grading Policies Focus On Mastery
Higher Education Partnerships
Industry-recognized Credentials
Educators Have Industry Experience
Industry-aligned Learning Pathways
Individual Learner Profiles
Individual Learning Paths
Mental Health Services
1:1 Mentoring
Multi-tiered System Of Support (MTSS) In Academics
Multi-age Classrooms
Industry Networking
No Tracked Classes
Project-based Learning
Peer To Peer Support
Performance Based Assessment
High Quality Instructional Materials
Reallocation Of Resources For Students Most In Need
Restorative Practices
School-based Enterprises
SEL Curriculum
SEL Integration School-wide
Students Access Their Own Data
Student-led Goal Setting
Self-paced Learning
Students Develop Projects
Trauma-informed Practices
Tutoring
Youth Employment Programs
Career Prep
key reasons for innovating
Better support a specific population of students
Better support economically disadvantaged students
Better support multilingual students
Better support newcomer students
Better support students classified as English learners
Better support students experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness
Better support students in the foster care system
Better support students in the juvenile justice system
Better support students of color
Better support students with disabilities
Better support students with interrupted formal education
Improve academic achievement
Increase student agency
Date Updated: 4/1/2026
*Canopy profile data is self-reported or sourced from NCES data, then verified by school leaders.