This article originally appeared in the Canon City Daily Record
During the past 30 years, Mountain View Core Knowledge School has become synonymous with top-notch education — a quality that has repeatedly been recognized both locally and statewide.
In September, the Colorado Department of Education and Colorado League of Charter Schools announced the official 2026 Middle School Performance Framework calculation, and MVCKS ranked No. 20 out of 659 middle schools statewide.
“This team has poured time and energy and heart into really taking what was already a really good middle and school and making it a place kids want to show up every day,” Principal Karen Sartori said.
The state-level framework evaluates middle schools by means of student progress over standardized test scores. For example, 40% of the school’s final “grade” comes from Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) testing, while the remaining 60% is determined by academic growth–measuring how much progress students make year-over-year.
MVCKS garnered a final 2026 score of 88.9%, which comfortably places it in the 97th percentile. By contrast, Colorado’s median was just 56.8%.
Sartori said that the stellar state-level ranking is the culmination of six years of deliberate work by middle school teachers, staff and students to build a school culture where students feels connected, take ownership of their learning and play an active role in maintaining a positive and healthy environment.
The Daily Record sat down with interventionist Johnna Montoya, middle school math and science teacher Matt Schwindt, seventh-grade aid Nikki Teigen, and middle school social studies teacher Sandra Kerr to learn more about how the MVCKS middle school team has worked towards creating a vibrant school culture.
Beyond academic achievement, which is a mainstay at the school, the team detailed that the use of YouthTruth survey results paired with root-cause analysis, developing action plans, investing in professional learning and creating greater opportunities for student voice and choice has led to a booming school culture.
Chief among the school’s accomplishments has been the successful implementation of the Ron Clark Academy House System, a schoolwide framework designed to build positive school culture, character, and a sense of belonging across grade levels.
The House System sorts kids in grades 6-8 into one of four houses, Rêveur, Onraka, Amistad, and Altruismo, and they meet every day, evaluating district traits and skills, coming up with community service projects, partaking in competitions, and much more.
“This team is amazing,” Sartori said, citing the hard work of the teachers and staff. “They are the ones in the trenches…they really are the reason for this awesome success.”
The House System was implemented after staff members attended the Ron Clark Academy in 2021 and the program has led to increased school attendance, which sits around 93%, and fun between grade levels.
Additional out-of-school activities, designed by the student council and supported by staff, have grown to include karaoke nights, bingo events, lock-ins, and even a Colorado Rockies Baseball game earlier this year. Schwindt commented that raising funds for the events comes strictly from fundraising efforts hosted by the student council, including phone-a-thons, save-the-date fundraisers and much more.
“We’ve built this system, and we want to continue offering new experiences and new opportunities to the students,” Schwindt said.
He went on to detail that, without a supportive community, parts of the out-of-school activities wouldn’t be possible.
“We’ve had great support from the community offering prizes…we’ve had everything from gift cards to gaming system for our events,” he said.
During the 2025 YouthTruth survey, MVCKS emerged as the No. 1 school of 865 middle schools across the United States — due in no small part to the school’s culture.
“You have to have that culture and that cohesiveness and that connectivity in order to have those academic gains,” Sartori said. “And we really do feel like this top 20 ranking is a result of six years of building a culture.”
Kerr noted that, in addition to the school-sanctioned events and activities, it isn’t unusual for MVCKS teachers and staff to show up at sporting events for their kids.
“85% of our kids play sports or do other extracurricular activities, so you might go to a Harrison sporting event, you will see Mountain View staff sitting in the crowd watching our kids play, regardless of whether or not our own kids are playing,” she said. “I’d say we show up for our kids during the school day and afterwards also.”
And that just scratches the surface of what the middle school team strives to do to support their kids.
From the classroom to the ball field, MVCKS staff members say their goal is to create an environment where students feel known, supported and invested in their own success.
While the school’s No. 20 ranking among Colorado’s 659 middle schools is certainly something to celebrate, for the teachers and staff, the number is ultimately a reflection of something bigger.
And for the MVCKS middle school team, that culture is something worth continuing to build, one student, one experience and one connection at a time.