BCSIS by the Numbers: One of Colorado’s Top-Performing Schools

BCSIS is known for arts integration, hands-on learning and a creative approach to elementary education.

It also happens to be one of Colorado’s highest-performing schools.

The latest state data gives us plenty to celebrate: BCSIS earned 99.6% of the available points on Colorado’s 2026 School Performance Framework, tying for #4 statewide. Within Boulder Valley School District, only High Peaks Elementary scored higher. Bear Creek Elementary tied BCSIS at 99.6%.

99.6%
of available School Performance Framework points

#4
tied statewide

80.5%
of BCSIS students met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts

76.5%
met or exceeded expectations in math

BCSIS is performing at the very top of an already strong district

Boulder Valley School District had an exceptional showing in the 2026 state framework.

High Peaks Elementary ranked first statewide with 100% of available points. BCSIS and Bear Creek followed at 99.6%, with Fireside Elementary at 97.8%. BCSIS was one of nine BVSD schools to place among the state’s top 100 based on percentage of framework points earned.

For families looking specifically at elementary schools within Boulder, that puts BCSIS among the city’s very highest-performing schools.

The latest CMAS scores tell the same story

Colorado’s School Performance Framework is broader than a single test score, but the latest CMAS results give another useful view of student achievement.

In spring 2026, 80.5% of BCSIS students in grades 3–5 who took CMAS met or exceeded state expectations in English Language Arts. Across BVSD, that number was 65.3%. Statewide, it was 44.7%.

In math, 76.5% of BCSIS students met or exceeded expectations, compared with 56.1% across BVSD and 37.3% statewide.

That means BCSIS students met or exceeded expectations at nearly twice the statewide rate in math and well above the statewide rate in literacy.

Upper elementary results were especially strong

The grade-level results are worth a look, too.

Among participating BCSIS fifth graders:

92.5% met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts.

95.1% met or exceeded expectations in math.

Fourth-grade students also posted strong results, with 84.8% meeting or exceeding expectations in English Language Arts and 72.3% in math.

Strong results in a year when the statewide picture was mixed

These numbers are especially interesting in the context of Colorado’s 2026 results.

Chalkbeat’s statewide analysis found that math performance continued to improve across Colorado, while literacy results were more uneven. Statewide, 44.7% of students in grades 3–8 met or exceeded expectations in literacy and 37.3% did so in math.

BCSIS substantially outperformed both of those statewide benchmarks.

Chalkbeat also noted particularly encouraging literacy gains among fourth and fifth graders statewide—a pattern that makes BCSIS’s strong upper-elementary results part of a broader positive trend, while still standing well above the state averages.

Achievement is only part of the picture

Colorado’s School Performance Framework is useful because it doesn’t look only at whether students reach a particular proficiency benchmark.

It also considers academic growth—how students progress over time.

That matters at BCSIS, where the goal isn’t simply to have students arrive already performing at a high level. It’s to keep them learning and growing.

The combination of strong achievement, strong growth and a 99.6% overall framework score is what places BCSIS among the top-performing schools in Colorado.

Creative learning and academic achievement can live in the same classroom

BCSIS has a distinctive educational model.

Students learn through arts integration, connected curriculum, hands-on experiences and creative work alongside traditional academic instruction.

The latest data is a nice reminder that those things don’t sit on opposite sides of the educational spectrum.

At BCSIS, creativity and academic rigor are happening together.

And the results are worth celebrating.

Sources

Boulder Valley School District — “BVSD Accredited with Distinction for the Third Year in a Row,” Sept. 2, 2026. Includes the 2026 School Performance Framework rankings and BVSD schools in Colorado’s top 100. 🔗

Colorado Department of Education — 2025–26 CMAS English Language Arts results for Boulder Community School/Integrated Studies. School, district and statewide results, including grade-level data.

Colorado Department of Education — 2025–26 CMAS Mathematics results for Boulder Community School/Integrated Studies. School, district and statewide results, including grade-level data 🔗

Chalkbeat Colorado — “Colorado’s 2026 CMAS scores: See how your school and district did,” Aug. 19, 2026. Statewide context for 2026 math and literacy performance.

CMAS percentages represent students who participated in the assessment. The Colorado Department of Education recommends considering participation rates when interpreting results; BCSIS participation was 90.8% in ELA and 91.5% in math for the combined grades reported above.