Best Elementary Schools in Denver, CO (2025-26)

Ranked elementary schools

127

Listed, not ranked

Every ranked elementary school in Denver, CO, ordered by SchoolGrade. A grade rewards actual test performance against the projection for each school's student context, so a B in a high-poverty school can outrank an A- elsewhere on impact. Click a column heading to sort, or filter by school, city or district.

Denver, CO rankings: High Schools · Middle Schools · Elementary Schools

Denver, CO elementary schools ranked

Rank	Grade	School	City	District	Actual	Projected	Impact	Students
#1	A+	Polaris Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	94%	71%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	328
#2	A+	Challenge School (Magnet)	Denver	Cherry Creek School District No. 5 in the county of Arapah	91%	67%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	550
#3	A+	Slavens K 8 School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	83%	59%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	752
#4	A+	Westerly Creek Elementary	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	80%	56%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	680
#5	A+	Steele Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	77%	64%	Exceeds Expectations	429
#6	A+	Park Hill School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	76%	58%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	676
#7	A+	William Bill Roberts Ece 8 School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	76%	58%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	828
#8	A+	Steck Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	75%	54%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	321
#9	A+	Asbury Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	73%	54%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	271
#10	A+	Teller Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	72%	56%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	530
#11	A+	Bromwell Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	71%	58%	Exceeds Expectations	313
#12	A+	Creativity Challenge Community	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	71%	59%	Exceeds Expectations	297
#13	A+	Edison Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	71%	64%	Meets Expectations	522
#14	A+	University Park Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	71%	51%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	385
#15	A+	Cory Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	70%	62%	Meets Expectations	400
#16	A	Carson Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	69%	63%	Meets Expectations	411
#17	A	Denver Language School (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	67%	49%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	882
#18	A	French American School Of Denver (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	63%	53%	Exceeds Expectations	143
#19	A	Mckinley Thatcher Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	63%	45%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	255
#20	A	Swigert International School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	63%	55%	Exceeds Expectations	571
#21	A	Willow Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	62%	49%	Exceeds Expectations	594
#22	A-	Brown International Academy	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	59%	45%	Exceeds Expectations	546
#23	A-	Inspire Elementary	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	58%	51%	Meets Expectations	567
#24	A-	Valdez Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	57%	31%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	389
#25	B+	Isabella Bird Community School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	54%	52%	Meets Expectations	414
#26	B+	Palmer Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	53%	30%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	237
#27	B+	Southmoor Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	53%	42%	Exceeds Expectations	408
#28	B+	Centennial A School For Expeditionary Learning	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	52%	43%	Exceeds Expectations	471
#29	B+	Lincoln Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	51%	53%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	309
#30	B+	Odyssey School Of Denver (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	50%	36%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	291
#31	B	Rocky Mountain Prep Creekside (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	50%	12%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	578
#32	B	Bradley International School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	48%	37%	Exceeds Expectations	556
#33	B	Sabin World School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	46%	21%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	587
#34	B	Stedman Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	46%	30%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	439
#35	B-	Gust Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	44%	12%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	572
#36	B-	Highline Academy Southeast (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	44%	31%	Exceeds Expectations	531
#37	B-	Columbine Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	42%	29%	Exceeds Expectations	278
#38	C+	Denver Center For International Studies At Fairmon	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	40%	28%	Exceeds Expectations	374
#39	C+	Strive Prep Ruby Hill (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	37%	11%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	391
#40	C+	Valley View Innovation School	Denver		36%	14%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	84
#41	C	Downtown Denver Expeditionary School (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	35%	30%	Meets Expectations	259
#42	C	Rocky Mountain Prep Berkeley (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	35%	21%	Exceeds Expectations	298
#43	C	Academia Ana Marie Sandoval	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	34%	27%	Meets Expectations	401
#44	C	Holm Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	34%	16%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	470
#45	C	Denison Montessori School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	32%	23%	Exceeds Expectations	359
#46	C-	Bryant Webster Dual Language Ece 8 School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	29%	18%	Exceeds Expectations	357
#47	C-	Dora Moore Ece 8 School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	28%	18%	Exceeds Expectations	316
#48	C-	Goldrick Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	28%	10%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	326
#49	C-	Samuels Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	28%	11%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	467
#50	C-	Trevista At Horace Mann	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	28%	19%	Exceeds Expectations	406
#51	C-	Doull Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	27%	12%	Greatly Exceeds Expectations	327
#52	C-	Lena Archuleta Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	27%	22%	Meets Expectations	473
#53	D+	Global Primary Academy	Denver	Mapleton School District No. 1 in the county of Adams & St	26%	12%	Exceeds Expectations	285
#54	D+	Holly Hills Elementary School	Denver	Cherry Creek School District No. 5 in the county of Arapah	26%	16%	Exceeds Expectations	504
#55	D+	Beach Court Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	25%	12%	Exceeds Expectations	257
#56	D+	Kaiser Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	25%	12%	Exceeds Expectations	225
#57	D+	Kipp Northeast Elementary (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	25%	21%	Meets Expectations	499
#58	D+	Lowry Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	25%	17%	Meets Expectations	384
#59	D+	Metropolitan Arts Academy	Denver	Westminster Public Schools	25%	16%	Meets Expectations	345
#60	D+	Welby Community School Of The Arts (Magnet)	Denver	Mapleton School District No. 1 in the county of Adams & St	25%	13%	Exceeds Expectations	322
#61	D+	Adventure Elementary (Magnet)	Denver	Mapleton School District No. 1 in the county of Adams & St	24%	13%	Exceeds Expectations	361
#62	D+	Kipp Sunshine Peak Elementary (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	23%	21%	Meets Expectations	165
#63	D+	Knapp Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	23%	12%	Exceeds Expectations	373
#64	D+	University Prep Steele St (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	23%	8%	Exceeds Expectations	287
#65	D+	Wyatt Academy (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	23%	11%	Exceeds Expectations	191
#66	D	Green Valley Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	21%	18%	Meets Expectations	660
#67	D	Mcmeen Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	21%	21%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	561
#68	D	Montclair School Of Academics And Enrichment	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	21%	11%	Exceeds Expectations	308
#69	D	Rocky Mountain Prep Southwest (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	20%	9%	Exceeds Expectations	358
#70	D	Trailside Academy	Denver	Mapleton School District No. 1 in the county of Adams & St	20%	17%	Meets Expectations	496
#71	D	Colfax Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	19%	13%	Meets Expectations	258
#72	D	Grant Ranch Ece 8 School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	19%	20%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	302
#73	D	Highline Academy Northeast (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	19%	20%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	579
#74	D	Marie L Greenwood Academy	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	19%	13%	Meets Expectations	592
#75	D	Omar D Blair Charter School (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	19%	17%	Meets Expectations	727
#76	D	Sherrelwood Elementary School	Denver	Westminster Public Schools	19%	17%	Meets Expectations	197
#77	D	University Prep Arapahoe St (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	19%	9%	Exceeds Expectations	280
#78	D	Denver Green School Southeast	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	18%	18%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	523
#79	D-	Barnum Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	18%	12%	Meets Expectations	331
#80	D-	Godsman Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	18%	11%	Meets Expectations	309
#81	D-	Soar At Green Valley Ranch (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	18%	16%	Meets Expectations	483
#82	D-	Charles M Schenck Cms Community School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	17%	14%	Meets Expectations	317
#83	D-	Marrama Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	17%	16%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	476
#84	D-	Monarch Montessori (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	17%	16%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	223
#85	D-	Newlon Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	17%	13%	Meets Expectations	285
#86	D-	Smith Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	17%	9%	Meets Expectations	420
#87	D-	Center For Talent Development At Greenlee	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	16%	10%	Meets Expectations	277
#88	D-	North Star Elementary School	Denver	Adams 12 Five Star Schools	16%	9%	Meets Expectations	361
#89	D-	Schmitt Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	16%	10%	Meets Expectations	176
#90	D-	Traylor Academy	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	16%	18%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	324
#91	D-	Ellis Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	15%	15%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	358
#92	D-	Federal Heights Elementary School	Denver	Adams 12 Five Star Schools	15%	13%	Meets Expectations	414
#93	D-	Johnson Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	15%	13%	Meets Expectations	288
#94	D-	Oakland Elementary	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	15%	9%	Meets Expectations	263
#95	D-	Valverde Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	15%	11%	Meets Expectations	283
#96	D-	Academy 360 (Charter)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	14%	9%	Meets Expectations	210
#97	D-	College View Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	14%	12%	Meets Expectations	290
#98	D-	Dcis At Ford	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	14%	9%	Meets Expectations	463
#99	D-	Eagleton Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	14%	10%	Meets Expectations	238
#100	D-	Florida Pitt Waller Ece 8 School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	14%	18%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	828
#101	D-	Force Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	14%	10%	Meets Expectations	318
#102	D-	Monterey Community School	Denver	Mapleton School District No. 1 in the county of Adams & St	14%	11%	Meets Expectations	429
#103	D-	Orchard Park Academy	Denver	Westminster Public Schools	14%	12%	Meets Expectations	571
#104	F	International Academy Of Denver At Harrington	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	14%	9%	Meets Expectations	171
#105	F	Colorado Sports Leadership Academy	Denver	Westminster Public Schools	13%	12%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	410
#106	F	Columbian Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	13%	14%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	180
#107	F	Farrell B Howell Ece 8 School (Magnet)	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	13%	11%	Meets Expectations	569
#108	F	Garden Place Academy	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	13%	11%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	393
#109	F	Hallett Academy	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	13%	10%	Meets Expectations	238
#110	F	Joe Shoemaker School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	13%	16%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	444
#111	F	Vanguard Classical School West (Charter)	Denver	Aurora Joint District No. 28 of the counties of Adams and A	13%	10%	Meets Expectations	363
#112	F	Josephine Hodgkins Leadership Academy	Denver	Westminster Public Schools	12%	11%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	611
#113	F	Place Bridge Academy	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	12%	11%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	746
#114	F	Swansea Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	12%	12%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	376
#115	F	Whittier Ece 8 School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	12%	9%	Meets Expectations	219
#116	F	Castro Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	11%	11%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	259
#117	F	Cole Arts And Science Academy	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	10%	12%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	255
#118	F	John H Amesse Elementary	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	10%	9%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	350
#119	F	Maxwell Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	9%	10%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	631
#120	F	Ashley Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	8%	12%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	260
#121	F	Fairview Elementary School	Denver	Westminster Public Schools	8%	14%	Underperforms Expectations	333
#122	F	Fort Logan Northgate	Denver	Sheridan School District No. 2	8%	11%	Underperforms Expectations	398
#123	F	Mcglone Academy	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	8%	10%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	803
#124	F	Ricardo Flores Magon Academy (Charter)	Denver	State Charter School Institute	8%	11%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	253
#125	F	Cheltenham Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	7%	12%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	286
#126	F	Cowell Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	6%	10%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	274
#127	F	Munroe Elementary School	Denver	School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C	5%	10%	Doesn't Meet Expectations	340

How Denver, CO's elementary schools compare

A: 24B: 13C: 15D: 51F: 24

29% of the 127 ranked elementary schools in Denver, CO earn an A or B (24 A grades, 13 B, 15 C, 51 D, 24 F), against 46% of elementary schools nationwide. 98 schools meet or beat the proficiency projected from their student context (77% here, 70% nationally), and 55 exceed it. On average 32% of tested students meet the state bar against a projected 24% (national averages: 46% actual, 37% projected).

The biggest overperformers, by actual proficiency above projection: Rocky Mountain Prep Creekside (50% against 12%, B), Gust Elementary School (44% against 12%, B-), Valdez Elementary School (57% against 31%, A-), Strive Prep Ruby Hill (37% against 11%, C+), Sabin World School (46% against 21%, B).

Districts with the most schools in the top quarter (the top 32): School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C (31).

The largest ranked elementary schools: Denver Language School (882 students, A, #17), William Bill Roberts Ece 8 School (828 students, A+, #7), Florida Pitt Waller Ece 8 School (828 students, D-, #100).

Of the top 25, 1 is a magnet school and 2 are charters. Selective and specialised schools tend to post high actual scores; the projection column is the fairer comparison for a neighborhood school.

Elementary schools in Denver, CO that are not ranked

5 graded elementary schools are listed here rather than ranked, each for the reason given. Every one has its own page with its full SchoolGrade report.

Not yet graded (5)

Our source data has no school-level proficiency results for these schools, so they carry no SchoolGrade yet.

American Indian Academy Of Denver, Denver
Escalante Biggs Academy, Denver
Fairview Elementary School, Denver
Mathematics And Science Leadership Academy, Denver
Stephen Knight Center For Early Education, Denver

About this ranking

Scope: public elementary schools in Denver, CO, as grouped on its schools page; the Colorado ranking covers the whole state.
Order: SchoolGrade, then actual proficiency, then name; schools with the same grade and score share a rank.
Ranked: regular public schools that NCES lists as open, not fully online, with at least 30 students. Others are listed with the reason.
Tags: Magnet and Charter from the NCES school directory; K-12 marks schools serving every grade that are ranked with the elementary schools.
Grades are the 2025-26 SchoolGrade model. How SchoolGrade works

Questions about elementary schools in Denver, CO

What is the best elementary school in Denver, CO?

Polaris Elementary School in Denver ranks first among the 127 ranked elementary schools in Denver, CO with a SchoolGrade of A+, 94% of tested students meeting the state bar against a projected 71%.

How are elementary schools in Denver, CO ranked?

By SchoolGrade, the 2025-26 model that scores each school's actual test proficiency against the level projected for its student context, then by actual proficiency to break ties. Regular public schools that are open, not fully online and have at least 30 students are ranked; the rest are listed below the table with the reason.

How many elementary schools does Denver, CO have?

SchoolGrade grades 132 public elementary schools in Denver, CO; 127 are ranked here and 5 are listed as not ranked.