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What's something Challenge School does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
560
Elementary
DISTRICT 478 · STATE 379
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHERRY CREEK SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 080291000763
Challenge School
9659 EAST MISSISSIPPI AVENUE, DENVER, CO 80231 · (720) 747-2100 · Arapahoe County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL560 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.2:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.3:1 · STATE 16.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
17%
97 students
DISTRICT 38% · STATE 50%
Community
6
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 | 22 | 4% |
| Grade 1 | 43 | 8% |
| Grade 2 | 45 | 8% |
| Grade 3 | 62 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 73 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 80 | 14% |
| Grade 6 | 77 | 14% |
| Grade 7 | 80 | 14% |
| Grade 8 | 78 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (22) is 72% smaller than its 8th grade class (78).
Student demographics
74%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · 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
Test scores
CMAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
91.3%
CO avg 44.9% . +2.5pp since 2023
Math
90.9%
CO avg 36.1% . +2.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 91 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 91 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Colorado schools, those numbers are about 45 and 36. Reading and writing scores are up about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 91.3% | 90.9% |
| 2023-24 | 88.8% | 88.3% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of CO schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
89.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
56.2%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+33.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 90% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 56% typical for Colorado schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 33 points, placing it in Colorado's top 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 Challenge School
Challenge School's state test result (89.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Challenge School this school | 560 | 17.3% | 89.7% |
| Cherry Creek Charter Academy GREENWOOD VILLAGE | 594 | 16.5% | 81.8% |
| Belleview Elementary School GREENWOOD VILLAGE | 577 | 29.6% | 58.0% |
| Parker Core Knowledge PARKER | 705 | 9.4% | 83.5% |
| High Peaks Elementary School BOULDER | 257 | 9.7% | 89.8% |
| Acres Green Elementary School LITTLETON | 341 | 36.7% | 40.0% |
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 Challenge School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Arapahoe County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 89.7% | #3 of 931 | #1 of 96 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 90.9% | #4 of 940 ▼ 1 | #2 of 96 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 91.3% | #4 of 946 no change | #1 of 96 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 560 | #150 of 1,056 | #31 of 104 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.2:1 | #566 of 896 | #65 of 97 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 73.8% | #12 of 896 | #10 of 97 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 17.3% | #863 of 983 | #89 of 101 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +4.9% | #140 of 200 | #15 of 20 |
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
560
+18 (+3%) vs 2020
+20% since 2000-01, when it was 466
Student : Teacher
16.2:1
was 18.1:1
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 | 560 | 34.6 | 16.2:1 | 17% (97) |
| 2023-24 | 563 | 34.3 | 16.4:1 | 19% (106) |
| 2022-23 | 550 | 30 | 18.3:1 | 11% (62) |
| 2020-21 | 542 | 30 | 18.1:1 | 13% (72) |
| 2017-18 | 534 | 28.8 | 18.5:1 | 12% (64) |
| 2015-16 | 534 | 29 | 18.4:1 | 9% (48) |
| 2010-11 | 535 | 29 | 18.4:1 | 4% (24) |
| 2000-01 | 466 | 27 | 17.3:1 | 2% (10) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Challenge School.
Since 2017-18: students up 5% (534 to 560); teachers up 20% (28.8 to 34.6).
About Challenge School
Challenge School is a mid-sized elementary school found in DENVER, Colorado. The school covers pre-K through 8 and reported 560 students in 2024-25. The school is 48% bigger than the average for elementary schools in Colorado.
Cherry Creek School District has 52,099 students spread across 70 schools.
The student body at Challenge School has no majority group. White students lead at 35%. The next largest groups are 32% Asian, 14% Black, 12% multiracial, and 7% Hispanic. The school's White share is 24 points below the 59% share among Arapahoe County residents. A diversity index of 74% means there is a 74% chance two randomly chosen students at Challenge School are from different groups.
A staff of 34.6 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 16.2:1. It is about the same as the 16.6:1 average for elementary schools in Colorado. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 17%. That is lower than the 50% average for public schools in Arapahoe County.
On BeatsExpectations, which compares test results with what a school's student poverty level would predict, Challenge School ranks in the top 10% in Colorado. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 89.7%, against a prediction of 56.2%.
Census data for Arapahoe County show median household income comes to about $101,087, about 47% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. The county has 176 public schools and about 115,502 students.
About 1.0 miles separate Challenge School from the closest public school, Highline Community Elementary School. The five-mile area around Challenge School holds at least 8 other public schools. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Challenge School at 1st of 9.
For locale, NCES codes Challenge School as City: Large.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment rose from 542 to 560, a 3% rise. The student-to-teacher ratio dropped from 18.1:1 in 2020-21 to 16.2:1 in 2024-25.
On allk12, people connected to Challenge School can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Arapahoe County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
659,844
Census ACS
Median income
$101,087
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
47%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
176
115,502 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Cherry Creek School District
- Cherry Creek High SchoolHigh · 3,852 students
- Cherokee Trail High SchoolHigh · 3,089 students
- Eaglecrest High SchoolHigh · 2,851 students
- Grandview High SchoolHigh · 2,684 students
- Smoky Hill High SchoolHigh · 2,297 students
- Overland High SchoolHigh · 2,228 students
Other schools in DENVER
- East High SchoolHigh · 2,476 students
- Northfield High SchoolHigh · 2,137 students
- South High SchoolHigh · 1,950 students
- North High SchoolHigh · 1,653 students
- Thomas Jefferson High SchoolHigh · 1,390 students
- McAuliffe International SchoolMiddle · 1,329 students
Nearby schools
- Highline Community Elementary School1.0 mi · 435
- Lotus School for Excellence1.3 mi · 1,008
- Village East Community Elementary School1.4 mi · 821
- Ponderosa Elementary School1.4 mi · 634
- Lowry Elementary School1.5 mi · 400
- Aurora Academy Charter School1.5 mi · 536
Frequently asked questions
About Challenge SchoolHow large is Challenge School?
Challenge School enrolls approximately 560 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does Challenge School serve?
Challenge School serves grades PK-08.
How many students per teacher at Challenge School?
Approximately 16.2:1 students per teacher at Challenge School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Challenge School?
At Challenge School, the student body is approximately 35% White, 7% Hispanic, 14% Black, 32% Asian, 12% Two or more.
What district is Challenge School in?
Challenge School is part of Cherry Creek School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.