History

Platter River Academy History
A group of children are playing with toys in a room.

Charter Schools Start in Colorado
On June 3, 1993, Colorado Governor Roy Romer signed legislation known as the Charter School Act. It was designed to enable parents, teachers and community members to take responsible risks and create new, innovative, and more flexible ways of educating all children within the public school system which result in expanded choices for parents and pupils. Each charter school works with its school district, negotiating terms for meeting academic and fiscal expectations. Charter schools have alternative educational philosophies, such as Core Knowledge, Montessori or experiential-based learning.

Our beginnings

The founders of PRA saw a need for a Core Knowledge school in the Highlands Ranch area after they had difficulty getting their own children into the existing Core Knowledge schools in the area. The founders were not trying to reinvent the wheel when they started PRA; they simply looked at what was working at other successful Core Knowledge schools and tried to improve upon those things.


In 1997, Platte River Academy opened its doors to 250 students in grades K-6. 


Where we are today

In 2020, we added a brand new program and welcomed our little Panther Cubs to our off-site preschool.


After two decades, we can say that we now serve nearly 540 students in grades PK-8. Platte River Academy is a successful school for three reasons: our exceptional staff, our involved parents and our hard- working students.