Enrollment
179
Elementary
DISTRICT 328 · STATE 379
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·THOMPSON SCHOOL DISTRICT R-2J·NCES 080540000928
Big Thompson Elementary School
7702 WEST HIGHWAY 34, LOVELAND, CO 80538 · (970) 613-5600 · Larimer County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL179 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 40% of Colorado public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Colorado public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
12.8:1
14 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.3:1 · STATE 16.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
25%
44 students
DISTRICT 37% · STATE 50%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 21 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 25 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 33 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 25 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 40 | 22% |
| Grade 5 | 35 | 20% |
This year's kindergarten class (21) is 40% smaller than its 5th grade class (35).
Student demographics
37%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
CMAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
43.8%
CO avg 44.9% . -7.6pp since 2023
Math
36.5%
CO avg 36.1% . -4.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 44 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 37 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Colorado schools, those numbers are about 45 and 36. Reading and writing scores are down about 8 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 4 points.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 43.8% | 36.5% |
| 2023-24 | 51.4% | 40.7% |
% Met or Exceeded Expectations, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CMAS. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
44.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
51.8%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 52% typical for Colorado schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Colorado's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Big Thompson Elementary School
Big Thompson Elementary School's state test result (44.3% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Thompson Elementary School this school | 179 | 24.6% | 44.3% |
| Larkspur Elementary School LARKSPUR | 161 | 23.6% | 53.1% |
| Hayden Valley Elementary School HAYDEN | 232 | 24.1% | 24.1% |
| Fraser Valley Elementary School FRASER | 217 | 22.6% | 61.5% |
| Merino Elementary School MERINO | 159 | 26.4% | N/A |
| Frisco Elementary School FRISCO | 215 | 27.0% | 45.9% |
Matched among Colorado elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Big Thompson Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Larimer County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 44.3% | #382 of 931 | #33 of 52 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 36.5% | #448 of 940 ▼ 68 | #36 of 53 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 43.8% | #455 of 946 ▼ 114 | #38 of 53 ▼ 9 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 179 | #918 of 1,056 | #52 of 56 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 24.6% | #765 of 983 | #43 of 52 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -25.4% | #184 of 664 | #13 of 41 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
179
0 (0%) vs 2020
-39% since 1990-91, when it was 292
Student : Teacher
12.8:1
was 13.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 179 | 14 | 12.8:1 | 25% (44) |
| 2023-24 | 201 | 14.5 | 13.8:1 | 33% (66) |
| 2022-23 | 206 | 12.7 | 16.2:1 | 20% (42) |
| 2020-21 | 179 | 13 | 13.8:1 | 27% (48) |
| 2017-18 | 240 | 11.8 | 20.4:1 | 30% (71) |
| 2015-16 | 220 | 11 | 20.0:1 | 26% (57) |
| 2010-11 | 206 | 11 | 18.7:1 | 25% (52) |
| 2000-01 | 267 | 14 | 19.1:1 | 14% (38) |
| 1990-91 | 292 | 15 | 19.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Big Thompson Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 25% (240 to 179); teachers up 19% (11.8 to 14).
About Big Thompson Elementary School
Among the schools in LOVELAND, Colorado, is Big Thompson Elementary School, a low-enrollment elementary school. Students in kindergarten through 5 attend the school, which enrolls 179 students. The average among elementary schools in Colorado is roughly 379 students; this school is 53% smaller than that.
Big Thompson Elementary School belongs to Thompson School District R-2J, a district of 32 schools and 14,580 students.
White students account for 78% of enrollment at Big Thompson Elementary School. Other students are 13% Hispanic and 6% multiracial. By the diversity index, Big Thompson Elementary School comes in at 37%.
Its teaching staff equals 14 full-time positions, a ratio of 12.8:1. For comparison, elementary schools in Colorado average 16.6:1. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, a common measure of family income, is 25%. The 35% average for public schools in Larimer County is 10 points higher.
The allk12 Grade for Big Thompson Elementary School is C+. Compared with Colorado public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 40% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Big Thompson Elementary School's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (44.3%) and its predicted rate (51.8%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Colorado schools.
Among Larimer County residents, median household income is about $93,765, 53% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Federal data list 94 public schools in Larimer County, with a combined enrollment of about 47,159.
Namaqua Elementary School is the public school closest to Big Thompson Elementary School, about 3.6 miles away. Big Thompson Elementary School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Nearby schools average 37.7% on proficiency, and Big Thompson Elementary School is above that at 44.3%.
Under the NCES locale system, Big Thompson Elementary School is Rural: Fringe.
The student count changed little between 2020-21 (179) and 2024-25 (179).
Parents and students can post about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs at Big Thompson Elementary School. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Larimer County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
367,368
Census ACS
Median income
$93,765
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
53%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
94
47,159 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Thompson School District R-2J
- Loveland High SchoolHigh · 1,354 students
- Mountain View High SchoolHigh · 1,074 students
- Loveland Classical SchoolCombined · 1,032 students
- New Vision Charter SchoolElementary · 1,005 students
- Thompson Valley High SchoolHigh · 1,005 students
- Riverview PK-8Elementary · 757 students
Other schools in LOVELAND
- Loveland High SchoolHigh · 1,354 students
- Mountain View High SchoolHigh · 1,074 students
- Loveland Classical SchoolCombined · 1,032 students
- New Vision Charter SchoolElementary · 1,005 students
- Thompson Valley High SchoolHigh · 1,005 students
- Lucile Erwin Middle SchoolMiddle · 686 students
Nearby schools
- Namaqua Elementary School3.6 mi · 236
- Ponderosa Elementary3.7 mi · 335
- Loveland Classical School4.1 mi · 1,032
- Lucile Erwin Middle School4.3 mi · 686
- Harold Ferguson High School4.6 mi · 164
- Walt Clark Middle School4.7 mi · 340
Frequently asked questions
About Big Thompson Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Big Thompson Elementary School?
Big Thompson Elementary School enrolls approximately 179 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Big Thompson Elementary School serve?
Big Thompson Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Big Thompson Elementary School?
Approximately 12.8:1 students per teacher at Big Thompson Elementary School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Big Thompson Elementary School?
At Big Thompson Elementary School, the student body is approximately 78% White, 13% Hispanic, 1% Black, 6% Two or more.
What district is Big Thompson Elementary School in?
Big Thompson Elementary School is part of Thompson School District R-2J.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.