Dakota Ridge High School Explained

Dakota Ridge High School
Streetaddress:13399 West Coal Mine Avenue
City:Littleton
State:Colorado
Zipcode:80127[1]
Country:US
Coordinates:39.6042°N -105.1497°W
District:Jefferson County Public Schools
Principal:Kim Keller
Teaching Staff:70.54 (FTE) (as of 2022-23)[2]
Ceeb:060923
Avg Class Size:21
Ratio:18.97 (as of 2022-23)
Schooltype:Public
Grades:9-12
Campus Size:42acres
Athletics:CHSAA 5A (football is CHSAA 4A)
Conference:Jefferson County League
Motto:To Live, To Love, To Learn, To Leave a Legacy[3]
Mascot:Eagle
Colors:Navy blue and cardinal
Yearbook:The Dakota Ridge Talon
Publication:The Cord News
Enrollment:1,338 (2022-23)[4]

Dakota Ridge Senior High School is a public school located in Littleton, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Jefferson County Public Schools system.

History

Dakota Ridge High School opened on August 20, 1996. It is named after the nearby Dakota Hogback. The school was built to ease the burden on Chatfield High School, which had so many students that it began a split schedule to accommodate all of the students. The first class graduated in the spring of 1998. [5]

Campus

Dakota Ridge operates as a closed campus for freshmen and an open campus for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

It sits atop a hill on Coal Mine Avenue, overlooking The Meadows Golf Course to the south.

A new wing was added roughly ten years after its original opening. In 2020, Warren Tech, Jefferson County's career and technical education program, announced the plan to build a southern campus on the school's property. It opened in 2021. [6]

Attendance zone

Areas within the school's attendance zone include:[7] Ken Caryl CDP[8]

Extracurricular activities

The school's athletic teams, known as the Dakota Ridge Eagles, compete in CHSAA class 5A in the Jefferson County League. Teams are fielded in baseball, basketball, marching band, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, poms, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.

The 1996 football team became the first in Jefferson County history to win its inaugural Jeffco League game. [9]

In 2007, the men's cross-country team won the State Championship. The women won in the 2008 5A state championship.

The 2012-13 cheerleading squad also brought home the League Championship for both Varsity & JV and won the CHSAA 4A/5A Coed State Championship in December 2012. The cheer squad went on to the USA Nationals Cheerleading & Dance Competition in Anaheim, California placing third in the nation. The next season (2013-2014) the Co-Ed Cheer squad took the state title for the second time in a row.

Instrumental music and performance

Winter guard

The Dakota Ridge Winter Guard has competed in the Rocky Mountain Color Guard Association (RMCGA) as well as Winter Guard International (WGI), and has received two state championship titles as well as other medalist finishes in the RMCGA unit.

Percussion ensemble

The Dakota Ridge Percussion Ensemble won RMPA State Champions (gold medalists) in PSCO class in 2014, 2015, and 2016, as well as RMPA State Champions (gold medalists) in PSCA class in 2015.

In the 2016 season, the Percussion Ensemble attended the WGI 2016 world championships in Dayton Ohio, finishing as World Champions (gold medalists) in PSCO class.

Notable alumni

Notes and References

  1. "Littleton" is the place name assigned to the ZIP code where the high school is located, and thus appears in its mailing address. However, the location lies some six miles west of the City of Littleton, across a county line.
  2. Web site: School Detail for Dakota Ridge Senior High School . National Center for Education Statistics .
  3. News: Bill . Scanlon . New school has a lock on ideals . Rocky Mountain News . 1996-06-19 . No one approaching the spanking new Dakota Ridge High School will have any trouble discerning that its mission is to teach students to live, learn, love and leave a legacy. Etched in red sandstone ... will be icons to the school's purpose. .
  4. Web site: DAKOTA RIDGE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL. National Center for Education Statistics. April 21, 2024.
  5. News: Vaccarelli . Joe . Dakota Ridge High marks 20th year . 12 November 2023 . The Denver Post . March 1, 2016.
  6. News: Gurdikian . Tina . Warren Tech South to open in Fall 2021 at Dakota Ridge HS . 12 November 2023 . February 19, 2020.
  7. Web site: High Schools. Jeffco Public Schools. 2020-03-28. - Dakota Ridge detail
  8. Web site: Ken Caryl Map. U.S. Census Bureau. 2020-03-29.
  9. News: Vaccarelli . Joe . Dakota Ridge High marks 20th year . 12 November 2023 . The Denver Post . March 1, 2016.
  10. News: Defender Todd Dunivant to retire following 2015 MLS season . 12 November 2023 . L.A. Galaxy Communications . August 26, 2015.
  11. Web site: Petty . Daniel . At Bolder Boulder, Littleton's Natosha Rogers returns to the top of her sport . The Denver Post . 29 May 2017.
  12. Web site: Steven Wilson plays big role Dakota Ridge baseball's win over Wheat Ridge . 11 April 2012 .