Monarch High School (Colorado)

American high school in Colorado

Monarch High School (MHS) is a secondary school located in Louisville, Colorado, and is part of the Boulder Valley School District. The school was named a John Irwin School of Excellence for the 2004–2005 school year. In 2007, Monarch was named the Sixth Best High School in the Denver Metro Area by 5280 Magazine. As of 2015, Newsweek magazine ranked the high school 356th in the US, out of the top 500.

Monarch High School opened in 1998 to relieve overcrowding at Centaurus High School, drawing students from the east Boulder County towns of Louisville and Superior. Monarch's first graduating class graduated in 2001 and was also the class to decide on the coyotes as Monarch's mascot. Monarch High School is named after Monarch Mine #2 which is located under part of the campus. Monarch was originally a closed campus, but as the population of the school grew, the school became an open campus for upperclassmen. Each high school in Boulder Valley School District has an emphasis; when opened, Monarch's emphasis was as the technology school and today has expanded to be a business/technology school.

Monarch High School is located east of Boulder, in the town of Louisville. Louisville has been ranked as one of the best small citlies to live in the United States by Money magazine.

The school has had national award winners in forensics, art, robotics, mathematics, science and world language, and has a widely recognized Thespian Troupe. In 2004, the Colorado High School Press Association awarded Monarch High's 5A Yearbook First Place. Monarch has had national champion thespians and winners at ISEF (International Science and Engineering Fair). In February 2019 the Technology Student Association Chapter won 1st in state, qualifying for nationals, for software development.

In October 2007, the ACLU criticized the school's administration for actions in May 2007 when, allegedly, students' cell phones were seized and their messages read and transcribed. ACLU pointed to constitutional rights and to Colorado privacy laws that would make some of the alleged actions a felony. In April 2008, new guidelines to protect students' privacy were put in place, which were commended by the ACLU.