Carlson Elementary School

Carlson Elementary School is a minimally staffed elementary-level community in IDAHO SPRINGS, Colorado, one of the schools within Clear Creek School District No. Re-1. The school enrolls 144 students in grades pre-K through 6. Enrollment runs roughly 62% below the state mean of about 379.

Carlson Elementary School is one of 5 schools operated by Clear Creek School District No. Re-1, a district that instructs 634 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Carlson Elementary School records that 72% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school logs 16% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, 2% Black. That is visibly less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 87%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school lists 12 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.6:1. The state averages around 16.6:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 43% of students at Carlson Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Clear Creek County (around 30%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Carlson Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 40.6%, the actual is 32.1%, a residual of -8.5 points.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Clear Creek County indicate median household earnings sit near $94,577, roughly 58% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Clear Creek County runs 5 public schools (combined enrollment of about 634 students), of which Carlson Elementary School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Gilpin County Elementary School, around 6.5 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Carlson Elementary School ranks 6th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 40.9%.

The school occupies a low-density site.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 27%: 198 students in 2018 compared to 144 in 2025. The White share of enrollment decreased from 79% to 72% over that span.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.