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The number of students waitlisted each spring at Denver public schools continues to decline.
Data shows about 2,900 students were on waitlists after Round 1 of Denver Public Schools’ school choice process this past spring, though it’s important to note that a single student can be on multiple waitlists. That number is down from about 5,000 students in 2019, a 41% decrease.
Overall enrollment in Denver Public Schools shrank from about 92,200 students in kindergarten through 12th grade in 2019 to about 88,200 students in 2024, a 4% decrease.
Denver Public Schools officials said they don’t have an explanation for the shrinking waitlists. When the same trend showed up last year, officials said it could be a symptom of declining enrollment or a sign that more families are happy at their assigned neighborhood schools.
School choice is enshrined in Colorado law. It means any student can apply to attend any public school. Denver Public Schools makes it easy — and sometimes all but mandatory — for families to participate by having a single online application on which they can list up to 12 school choices. The application window, commonly known as Round 1, will open on Jan. 15.
Whether students get accepted to a particular school depends on whether the school has open seats and how it prioritizes its admissions. Almost all schools use a lottery, but they can give preference to siblings of already enrolled students or the children of teachers, for example.
For the 2024-25 school year, students at 10 Denver schools that will close or partially close at the end of this school year will get priority to enroll at any school they choose.
Students who don’t get accepted to a particular school are put on a waitlist. If a student is accepted to the third school on their list, they will be waitlisted at their first and second choices.
Many school waitlists are shrinking. Notable trends include:
- Northfield High School had the longest waitlist after Round 1 in 2024 with 254 incoming ninth graders waiting for a seat. Northfield’s waitlist grew 15% from 2019 to 2024.
- No incoming ninth graders were waitlisted in 2024 at East High, the district’s largest school. In 2019, there were 112 incoming freshmen on East’s waitlist.
- Six of the 10 schools with the longest waitlists in 2024 were district-run schools. The other four were charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently run.
- By Chalkbeat’s count, the waitlists at 73 Denver schools were shorter in 2024 than they were in 2019. The schools where waitlists shrank included McAuliffe International School, Slavens K-8 School, and Steele Elementary School.
- By our count, the waitlists at 38 Denver schools were longer in 2024 than they were in 2019. The schools where waitlists grew included Merrill Middle School, Morey Middle School, and South High School.
- The waitlists at all other schools either stayed the same — nearly all of them at zero students in both 2024 and 2019 — or there wasn’t comparable data over time.
The searchable database below shows how many students in kindergarten, sixth, and ninth grades were on each school’s waitlist after Round 1 of school choice in 2024. The waitlists change over the spring and summer as families move or change their minds.
A note about Denver School of the Arts: It’s the only school in Denver that requires an audition to get in. It runs its own waitlist separate from the district process. Although its waitlist shows up as zero in the searchable table, district officials have said the school rejects hundreds of applicants each year.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
