Colorado Academy Head of School Dr. Mike Davis began his 2025 State of the School remarks to families in the Leach Center for the Performing Arts by underscoring the school’s mission.
“I love our mission,” said Davis, pointing out CA’s promise of creating curious, kind, courageous, and adventurous learners and leaders. “These words resonate with every child and every adult in our community, and almost every decision we make is filtered through the lens of our mission.”
In his remarks, given on March 20, 2025, he went on to detail the people, ideas, activities, and goals that have defined the 2024-2025 school year across three different categories.
Achievements
By the numbers, Davis began, CA has much to be proud of. Year-to-year student retention, a key measure of the health of a school community, is remarkably high, at 97%—higher than many of CA’s peer schools across the country. Students of diverse backgrounds represent 32% of the student body and hail from 65 Metro Denver ZIP Codes, pointing to the success of CA’s inclusion efforts, bus transportation program, and financial aid approach. And 74% of CA’s faculty members, Davis noted, possess advanced degrees, illustrating the school’s commitment to excellent teaching.
Beyond the strong numbers, a schoolwide focus on empathy and belonging over the past year has proven CA’s ability to meet and transcend the challenges of today’s social and political divisions. “I’m proud of how our faculty have handled difficult conversations with kids about what’s happening in the world,” Davis noted. “Core to our mission is embracing care for others, and this is something that I see every day across our Pre-K through 12 community. It’s reflected in the joy I witness among students spending time together, and it’s visible in the dedication our faculty show for every student.”
Social emotional learning, he observed, may be under fire in some quarters, but remains a fundamental piece of the CA curriculum. That focus ties directly to CA’s expanded vision for building culture and community, which is now in the hands of faculty and staff committees in all three divisions of the school, under the direction of Assistant Head of School Amy Wintermeyer.
The Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools have all seen progress in other areas. In the Upper School, under Principal Max Delgado, in-depth teaching and learning in CA’s new ASR course offerings have received enthusiastic support from students and teachers, and the kind of scholarship these and other Upper School courses represent has continued to drive a strong record of college acceptances. Delgado’s leadership, said Davis, has “raised the bar for academic excellence” in the Upper School, ensuring that both innovation and rigor continue to define CA’s high school program. A continued focus on civic education, health and wellness, and culture and belonging has meant Upper School students feel supported emotionally as well as academically.
Under Middle School Principal Nick Malick, student agency and voice have taken on increased importance as the division has looked to expand sports offerings, deepen student learning in STEM fields, and even reimagine the Middle School’s outdoor spaces. A new Dean of Students role and additional academic support have meant Sixth through Eighth Graders now find even more adult advocates available to them. According to Davis, Malick has, in only his second year at CA, kicked off a valuable process of investigating, adjusting, and reaffirming program goals and learning outcomes in the Middle School.
And in the Lower School, Principal Angie Crabtree has similarly placed growing emphasis on creating opportunities for student leadership and agency, with the successful Buddies program reaching every student in Pre-K through Grade 5. For those in Grade 5 preparing to continue to CA’s Middle School, new transitional programming and events aim to make this critical move smoother than ever. Crabtree, said Davis, has also worked with teachers to continually evaluate and refine already robust math and writing instruction in the Lower School.
Elsewhere, CA’s strong College Office has continued to offer families highly individualized counseling, even as the college admissions landscape has become ever more complex and crowded. Katy Hills, Director of Visual & Performing Arts, has helped to orchestrate thousands of hours of rehearsals and studio time to support hundreds of performances and exhibitions for all ages, year round. And Athletic Director Jon Hill, recently named Class 3A Athletic Director of the Year by the Colorado Association of Athletic Directors, has ensured sports and physical education are part of every CA student’s schedule, whether they are Lower Schoolers coming to the Field House for “Bring Your Parent to PE Day” or Juniors and Seniors looking toward continuing their athletic careers in college.
Davis noted that CA’s commitment to key issues such as sustainability, inclusion, and campus safety continues in 2024-2025 and beyond. Community outreach also has blossomed in the form of new educational and nonprofit partnerships with the REDI Lab Coleman Center in downtown Denver.
Challenges
The Head of School acknowledged that CA faces its fair share of challenges, including addressing the role of AI in schools, curriculum growth, the proven impacts of social media and phone usage on young people, and the evolving landscape of independent school and post-secondary education. CA’s leaderships team, faculty, and staff, Davis noted, have already been deeply engaged in discussions and planning around all of these issues for several years: “We know that change is here, and it can even be exciting. Our students and families look to us to find that balance between continuity and innovation.”
Just as important are the questions many families and educators have raised about the current administration’s promises, but, Davis said, “As a private nonprofit, we don’t depend on federal funding. Above all, we will continue to adhere to our mission and values. That means we are going to help kids understand and engage in thoughtful debate about the issues that are affecting our community and our nation.”
Maintaining and strengthening trust across the larger CA community, Davis noted, is one of the most important challenges we are facing. “We all see how divisive we are as a society. Americans really don’t trust institutions anymore. But without trust, we can’t achieve our mission. We need you to trust us; we need your kids to trust us.”
CA graduates, he went on, prove how worthy of trust a CA education really is. The young college students and college graduates he met this year on his trips to New York and elsewhere, Davis said, all agree that they were well prepared for secondary education and the world—perhaps over prepared. “There is always anxiety for families wondering about their children’s future. But I encourage you to remember that we have great teachers who are doing all they can to make sure our kids have the skills they need to thrive.”
Framework for growth
“We are always thinking about how we grow as an institution,” Davis told the audience. “This is why I love my job—because every year is different.”
One of the most important contributors to CA’s growth is its ability to attract and retain the very best teachers—a task that’s become easier over the past several years as the school has worked to adjust salaries overall with benchmark independent school data from across the country.
CA is also entering a master-planning process to evaluate emerging needs, such as new classroom or STEM spaces, changes to campus traffic and parking, and additional sources of revenue.
“Our future as a school is strong,” Davis stated. “We lead with our mission; we’re not going to follow trends, but instead stick to our core values that have proven successful. We know our students: they’re thriving here. We see it not only through their experiences at the school, but also through their achievements out in the world, in college and beyond.”
He concluded, “There’s a lot of interest in the school, and we don’t take that for granted. Our programs are always evolving and changing; our faculty and staff have an innovative mindset, where we’re always thinking about how to improve. The leadership team and I are constantly asking ourselves, ‘How can we serve these kids better?’ Thank you for your support on this journey.”