Douglas County schools move ahead with Highlands Ranch consolidations
Six Highlands Ranch elementary schools will become three paired campuses in fall 2026, forcing new attendance lines, bus routes and school identities.
Douglas County School District is moving six Highlands Ranch elementary schools into three paired campuses, a change that will reach classrooms, bus routes and neighborhood routines when the 2026-27 school year begins.
The district says the overhaul is meant to match school capacity with enrollment reality in central Highlands Ranch, where some buildings have more seats than students while other parts of Douglas County keep growing. The board approved the pairing plan 7-0 on April 22, 2025, after nearly two years of planning and evaluation, and district materials say the decision was designed to preserve full staffing and resources as enrollment shifts across the county.
Under the plan, Saddle Ranch Elementary and Eldorado Elementary will merge as Golden Ridge Elementary. Heritage Elementary and Summit View Elementary will become Mountain Peak Elementary, and Acres Green Elementary and Fox Creek Elementary will become Silver Spruce Elementary. The combined schools will operate at the existing Eldorado, Summit View and Fox Creek locations, while Saddle Ranch, Heritage and Acres Green buildings will be maintained so their playgrounds, fields and other spaces remain available for community use.
The district has already moved deeper into implementation. On Dec. 16, 2025, the board approved the new names and colors for the paired schools, and on March 13, 2026, district leaders announced the logo choices for the school communities. Elementary boundary adjustments are also scheduled to begin with the 2026-27 school year, along with the move of sixth grade to middle school for Highlands Ranch elementary schools that feed Cresthill Middle School, Mountain Ridge Middle School and Ranch View Middle School.
District leaders framed the consolidations as part of a broader countywide imbalance. Douglas County School District’s 2024 bond package funded two new elementary schools, one in RidgeGate and one in Sterling Ranch, even as central Highlands Ranch faced declining enrollment. The district’s bond FAQ says Douglas County is dealing with both significant growth in some areas and sharply decreasing enrollment in central Highlands Ranch, leaving officials to expand where demand is rising while shrinking where buildings are underused.
The transition has not been easy for families. Before the vote, Superintendent Erin Kane said, “It was really a lot of consideration and thoughtfulness,” adding, “At no point in this process was this about worthiness. We have 16 amazing schools in Highlands Ranch.” Parent Katie Bibler pushed back, saying, “We’ve been told there’s 22 classrooms at Summit View and there’s 22 classrooms at Heritage, yet we’re going to have more students at Summit View. It’s all about lack of trust.” With fall approaching, the district is now turning a board decision into a working school map.
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