St. Vrain Valley Schools is Setting a New Standard for Teacher Pay—and Student Success is Following

Over 20 years ago, St. Vrain Valley Schools—which serves more than 33,000 students across 60 schools and programs in northern Colorado—was struggling. The district was $16 million in debt, staff were leaving, and student enrollment was dropping, in part due to poor outcomes.

Then Don Haddad stepped in as superintendent. He and his leadership team developed concrete goals for public education across St. Vrain, slowly rebuilt trust with the community, and, in 2008, helped push through a $189 million capital projects bond and a $16.5 million mill levy override to invest in the future of the district. 

In 2017, when Carrie Morgridge met Haddad, the two found instant chemistry. Over time, Haddad’s objectives came to fruition, and district outcomes greatly improved. Consequently, the Morgridge Family Foundation has invested in a variety of St. Vrain’s initiatives, including supporting the expansion and programming of the district’s Innovation Center, an extended learning and experiential enterprise that provides students with professional opportunities and certifications.

Another of the district’s key efforts has focused on teachers: St. Vrain claims one of the highest starting teacher and support staff salaries in the Denver metro area at $64,500. 

In Colorado, the average teacher salary is $72,781. Within St. Vrain, it’s $82,160—the seventh-highest in the state, according to the Colorado Department of Education. (The National Education Association (NEA) ranks Colorado 41st in the country for average starting teacher salary and 20th for average teacher salary.) 

“Pay is a really important aspect of how we take care of people. Colorado is an expensive state to live in, and when we can offer higher compensation or competitive compensation, then we attract really large pools of people, and we can pick the very best and brightest to come and work in our system,” says current superintendent Jackie Kapushion, who took over the role on July 1. “Oftentimes people equate their pay to their value in the system, and we want our employees to feel valued.”

Kapushion’s leadership is rooted in the same ethos that Haddad brought to the role nearly two decades ago. She continues to set a high bar for her staff and has lofty expectations for the district’s students—who are meeting, and even superseding, those ideals. 

St. Vrain has the highest graduation rate among Colorado’s urban districts and the lowest dropout rate of Denver metro area school districts.

In August, Forbes named St. Vrain Valley Schools to its list of the 60 best employers in Colorado. And in 2023, Beth Cerrone, a cybersecurity instructor at the Innovation Center, was that year’s recipient of the National Presidential Cybersecurity Award, which recognizes just one "exceptional” high school teacher across the country each year.

“Being able to take care of our staff and our teachers allows them to better take care of kids,” Kapushion says. 

A 2024 survey conducted by the nonprofit RAND Corporation found that “Low pay is a top reason teachers consider leaving their job and is a top source of job-related stress for one in three teachers.”

High teacher turnover is known to be disruptive to student learning and is costly for districts as they repeatedly go through the hiring and training processes. 

Better, more equitable pay can help with teacher retention: Per the district, St. Vrain has the lowest teacher turnover rate in the Denver metro area, at about 50 percent less than the state average. (Its overall personnel turnover rate is also a good six percent below the state average, according to the CDE.) 

“When you have high teacher turnover costs, it feels like Groundhog Day every year,” Kapushion says. “When you can stabilize your teachers and you can keep them, then you're going to the next level…Teacher compensation and teacher retention play heavily into the quality of what's happening in classrooms.”

Kapushion adds that the results go far beyond test scores. “It’s about the relationships,” she says. “We know that when school cultures are built in a really strong way, it's because the adults in that building are modeling for children how it is that we solve problems, how it is that we approach our work together, what resilience looks like when we bump up against challenges.”

St. Vrain also offers a number of unique enrichment opportunities for students, including the world’s first high school, student-led outdoor drone show team, and a robust P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) program, which allows students to complete two-year associate degrees alongside their high school diplomas. 

With significant growth in certain segments of the district—including Erie, Mead, and the Carbon Valley Area—and three new schools under construction, St. Vrain’s commitment to fair and equitable pay for its teachers will continue to be at the forefront of its work. 

Haddad, now superintendent emeritus, says, “When we invest in our teachers with competitive salaries and benefits, we affirm that they are valued, and when that investment is paired with a culture built on respect and rich opportunities for professional growth, we create a school where teachers and staff—and in turn students—truly thrive.  With 90 percent of children enrolled in public schools, investment in our teachers and students is also an investment in the success and competitiveness of our country.”

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