D49 Adds 9 More Purple Star Schools — What It Means for Military Families in East COS
District 49 is heading into the 2026-27 school year with nine more campuses carrying the Colorado Department of Education's Purple Star School designation. That brings D49 among the leaders in El Paso County for recognized military-connected student support — and in a county with Fort Carson, Peterson Space Force Base, and Schriever Space Force Base all in the service area, the designation matters for a significant portion of D49 families.
Advertisement
Advertise hereWhat Purple Star Means
The Purple Star School designation, awarded by the Colorado Department of Education, recognizes schools with a demonstrated commitment to supporting students whose families have a military connection. The CDE assesses schools on specific criteria: a designated staff point of contact for military families, counselors with training in the specific challenges military-connected students face, and peer support programming for students navigating transitions.
The practical difference is meaningful. A PCS move — a Permanent Change of Station relocation — can put a child in a new school mid-semester, sometimes mid-year. Academic credit transfer, course equivalency, and extracurricular eligibility are all handled differently by different districts and schools. A Purple Star campus has a designated contact person whose job includes helping families navigate exactly these issues, rather than leaving parents to figure out which administrator to call.
Deployments and homecomings present a different kind of challenge — not logistical, but emotional. Children dealing with a deployed parent often show stress, behavioral changes, and academic disruption that teachers unfamiliar with military family dynamics might misread. Purple Star training is designed to close that gap.
Why D49 and El Paso County
El Paso County has one of the largest concentrations of active-duty military families of any county in Colorado. Fort Carson, on the southern boundary of Colorado Springs, employs roughly 25,000 active-duty soldiers and is among the Army's larger installations. Peterson Space Force Base, Schriever Space Force Base, and the NORAD/NORTHCOM headquarters at Peterson add thousands more active-duty and reserve personnel and their families to the county.
D49 serves eastern Colorado Springs, Falcon, and Peyton — areas that include significant residential communities for military families, particularly those stationed at Fort Carson and the Space Force installations. The district's Purple Star expansion is a direct response to the reality of who lives in its attendance boundary.
The nine campuses newly designated for 2026-27 include seven district-operated schools and two charter schools within the D49 family. Current Purple Star designations are listed at the school profile level on d49.org.
For Military Families New to D49
If your family received PCS orders to an El Paso County installation and you're placing children in D49 schools for the first time, a few practical starting points:
Look for the Purple Star designation on your school's profile at d49.org — it indicates the school has a military family contact and trained support staff. When you call to enroll, specifically ask to speak with the military family point of contact. They can help with credit transfer documentation, immunization record gaps common in military families (records scattered across multiple states), and extracurricular eligibility if your student is a high schooler who was mid-season at their previous school.
D49 enrollment is ongoing — the school year started August 3-4 for most students, but D49 accepts enrollment throughout the year and accommodates mid-year arrivals, as is common for military families who cannot always time moves to a convenient school calendar date.
Quick Reference
- New Purple Star campuses (2026-27): 9 total (7 district-operated, 2 charter)
- Designation authority: Colorado Department of Education (CDE)
- What to look for: Purple Star badge on school profile at d49.org
- D49 enrollment contact: d49.org
- Military family support: Ask for the military family point of contact when enrolling at any D49 Purple Star school
- District office: District 49 serves eastern COS, Falcon, Peyton
What's Next
D49 students are already two weeks into the school year — preschool through 12th grade started between August 3 and August 4. The Purple Star designation applies for the full 2026-27 school year. For families PCS-ing into El Paso County between now and the end of the school year, the designation remains in effect and the support structures it represents are in place. The CDE Purple Star program continues to expand statewide, and additional school designations are announced on a rolling basis throughout the school year. Check d49.org for the current full list of Purple Star campuses in the district.
What locals are saying
Be the first to share your thoughts
Start the conversation about this article.
Leave a reply
More from Colorado Springs
Apple Built the Pediatrician's Advice Into Your Kid's iPhone. Here's What Changes This Fall.
At its developer conference on June 8, Apple announced something it hadn't done before: a formal partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics to bring AAP guidance into device settings. iOS 27 — releasing this fal
D20 Academy District: First Day Is Monday August 17 — What to Do This Week
While D11 families are getting ready for Wednesday, Academy District 20 families have a full week before the first bell. D20's staggered start puts preschoolers, elementary students, incoming 6th graders, and incoming 9t
Two More Products Recalled for Coin Battery Hazard — Including One Sold at Gas Stations
The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced two more product recalls on August 6 for the same hazard: coin and button batteries that children can access, in violation of Reese's Law.