Durango High School Home

Our goal is to be the best public high school in Colorado.
Impact Career Innovation Center

About Us

Durango High School (DHS) welcomes students in 9th-12th grades. It's located in the heart of Durango, Colorado, along the Animas River, and serves approximately 1,350 students. Durango High School provides a rigorous education to prepare students for their future, be it a 4-year college, a 2-year institution, industry, the military, directly into the workforce, or whatever path they choose.
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Where we’re located
Durango School District map
six members of school leadership team

Mission

Our mission at Durango High School is to be the best public high school in the State of Colorado. We achieve excellence through positive relationships and high expectations for all of our students to excel in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. We provide an atmosphere where students can thrive, can find their niche,  and excel at their chosen career path.
 

News & Announcements

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Did you receive the emergency message on April 22?

On Tuesday, April 22, at 12:39 p.m., Durango School District sent out an emergency message to our entire school community about Boys and Girls Club closing that afternoon due to a power outage. If you did not receive the message, please complete the following steps to ensure you receive emergency messaging in future.
A group of friends laughs together

Cook Center Mental Health Series: May 2025 classes + watch recordings on your own schedule

Need help in supporting your child's well-being? We are offering FREE live webinars on Monday-Thursday evenings throughout the school year, and you can always watch previously recorded classes on your own time by visiting the Cook Center's full content library. Live webinar topics in May include: how to motivate your child, mindfulness for improved mental health, suicide prevention, protecting your child on social media, emotional regulation, video game addiction, stopping bullying cycles, and more.
A group of friends laughs together

Cook Center Mental Health Series: April 2025 classes + watch recordings on your own schedule

Need help in supporting your child's well-being? We are offering FREE live webinars on Monday-Thursday evenings throughout the school year, and you can always watch previously recorded classes on your own time by visiting the Cook Center's full content library. Live webinar topics this month include: effects of screen time, helping your child succeed, substance use and vaping, building confidence, depression, school avoidance, talking with your child about pornography, and much more.
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principal Jon Hoerl

Principal's Message

Durango High School  provides rigorous classroom study, extracurricular activities, sports, Career & Technical Education, Honors classes, Advanced Placement, concurrent enrollment  in college courses, and four-year, individualized academic advisors to help prepare our students for their future career.  – Dr. Jon Hoerl, Principal, CASE 2024 Colorado High School Principal of the Year.

Events

Finals Week

Time: 9 AM – 10 AM
Location: 2390 Main Ave., Durango, CO

Finals Week

Time: 9 AM – 10 AM
Location: 2390 Main Ave., Durango, CO

Finals Week

Time: 9 AM – 10 AM
Location: 2390 Main Ave., Durango, CO
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mountain with autumn leaves on trees

Quality of Life

Durango is a beautiful place to live and work. It is located at 6,512 feet elevation in Southwest Colorado near the Four Corners region. Families who live here enjoy a historic steam train, ski resort, rivers, vibrant downtown, bike trails, sky-high “fourteener” mountains, and four distinct seasons with an average of 266 sunny days per year. We welcome new families and new staff members, and we offer excellent benefits and competitive salaries. 
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Accessibility Statement

It is the goal of Durango School District 9-R that the information on this website be accessible to individuals with visual, hearing, or cognitive disabilities. Good faith efforts are being made to ensure that our website complies with web accessibility standards.

Most pages on our site are available in HTML format, which can be read by screen readers. Some documents are in Adobe PDF format, requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded for free from the Adobe website. Additionally, some documents are in Google Docs, and Google Forms. Most modern browsers and screen readers can access Google-based documents. More information about Google web products accessibility can be found on the Google Accessibility website.

In order to ensure that Durango School District websites are accessible to everyone in our community, including those with disabilities, we are using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.

If you cannot access any page(s) on our site, please email us at [email protected]. Include the location of the webpage/document, your name, email address, and phone number so we can provide the information in another format, and address the issue.