Dalton Elementary School

Dalton Elementary School is one of the middle-of-the-pack elementary schools in AURORA, Colorado, part of Aurora Joint District No. 28 of the counties of Adams and A, with 430 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5.

Aurora Joint District No. 28 of the counties of Adams and A comprises 59 schools with combined enrollment of 39,464 students; Dalton Elementary School is among them.

On demographics, Dalton Elementary School reports that 42% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups; the rest comes out to 23% White, 18% Black, 12% multiracial, 5% Asian. By comparison, Arapahoe County as a whole is about 22% Hispanic, so the school skews considerably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Dalton Elementary School lists 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 15.9:1. The state averages about 16.6:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Around 76% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is north of Arapahoe County's rate of about 50%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Dalton Elementary School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 20.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 28.4%.

In the area at large, Arapahoe County reports that median household earnings sit near $101,087, 47% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Arapahoe County runs 176 public schools (combined enrollment of about 115,502 students), of which Dalton Elementary School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Columbia Middle School, around 0.1 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Dalton Elementary School comes 1st of 8 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 21.9%.

The school occupies an inner-city site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Dalton Elementary School has declined 16%, going from 514 students in 2018 to 430 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 34% to 23% across the same window. Class-load math has fell: from 23.7:1 in 2018 to 15.9:1 in 2025.

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