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What's one thing Explorer Elementary School gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
470
Elementary
DISTRICT 506 · STATE 379
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ACADEMY DISTRICT 20·NCES 080192001496
Explorer Elementary School
4190 BARDOT DRIVE, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80920 · (719) 234-4400 · El Paso County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL470 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 74% of Colorado public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats 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
16.0:1
29 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 16.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
27%
129 students
DISTRICT 24% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 40 | 9% |
| Kindergarten | 76 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 65 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 57 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 81 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 68 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 83 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (76) is 8% smaller than its 5th grade class (83).
Student demographics
57%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
64.3%
CO avg 44.9% . +14.3pp since 2023
Math
59.3%
CO avg 36.1% . +5.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 64 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 59 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 14 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 64.3% | 59.3% |
| 2023-24 | 50.0% | 54.1% |
% 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
55.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.1%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 55% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% 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 Explorer Elementary School
Explorer Elementary School's state test result (55.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explorer Elementary School this school | 470 | 27.4% | 55.1% |
| Brown International Academy DENVER | 530 | 31.3% | 57.5% |
| Trails West Elementary School CENTENNIAL | 425 | 31.5% | 56.8% |
| Kendrick Lakes Elementary School LAKEWOOD | 443 | 30.0% | 52.2% |
| Timnath Elementary School TIMNATH | 455 | 30.8% | 53.6% |
| Centennial A School for Expeditionary Learning DENVER | 477 | 27.9% | 50.9% |
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 Explorer Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In El Paso County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 55.1% | #217 of 931 | #20 of 128 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 59.3% | #154 of 940 ▲ 33 | #12 of 126 ▲ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.3% | #148 of 946 ▲ 213 | #14 of 127 ▲ 33 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 470 | #289 of 1,056 | #39 of 137 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.0:1 | #534 of 896 | #86 of 122 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 57.0% | #263 of 896 | #80 of 122 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 27.4% | #735 of 983 | #104 of 134 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.1% | #539 of 664 | #83 of 100 |
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
470
+4 (+1%) vs 2020
+8% since 1990-91, when it was 435
Student : Teacher
16.0:1
was 17.3:1
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 | 470 | 29.3 | 16.0:1 | 27% (129) |
| 2023-24 | 453 | 26.3 | 17.2:1 | 28% (129) |
| 2022-23 | 471 | 30.6 | 15.4:1 | 18% (84) |
| 2020-21 | 466 | 27 | 17.3:1 | 16% (75) |
| 2017-18 | 506 | 31.6 | 16.0:1 | 18% (93) |
| 2015-16 | 504 | 31 | 16.3:1 | 15% (76) |
| 2010-11 | 529 | 32 | 16.5:1 | 11% (57) |
| 2000-01 | 525 | 29 | 18.1:1 | 1% (5) |
| 1990-91 | 435 | 20 | 21.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Explorer Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (506 to 470); teachers down 7% (31.6 to 29.3).
About Explorer Elementary School
Explorer Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school for students in COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado. Enrollment totals 470 students across pre-K through 5. That puts enrollment 24% above the 379-student average for elementary schools in Colorado.
Academy District 20 has 25,607 students spread across 39 schools.
More than half of the students at Explorer Elementary School are White (61%). Other reported shares: 21% Hispanic, 11% multiracial, 4% Black, and 2% Asian. That compares with about 70% White among all El Paso County residents. The diversity index for Explorer Elementary School is 57%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Its ratio of 16.0:1 is based on 29.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for elementary schools in Colorado is about 16.6:1. In all, 27% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. It compares with 42% for public schools in El Paso County.
Explorer Elementary School holds a B+ allk12 Grade, placing it above 74% of Colorado public elementary schools.
Schools in Colorado with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to score about 50.1%. Explorer Elementary School scores 55.1%.
In the wider El Paso County area, the median household earns about $90,363 a year, about 42% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Explorer Elementary School shares El Paso County with 244 other public schools.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Timberview Middle School, is about 0.6 miles. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, Explorer Elementary School places 2nd out of 9 schools in its immediate area.
By NCES locale, the school is City: Large, or inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment in 2024-25 was 470, close to the 466 recorded in 2020-21. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 17.3:1; by 2024-25 it was 16.0:1.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Explorer Elementary School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
El Paso County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
742,999
Census ACS
Median income
$90,363
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
42%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
245
114,356 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Academy District 20
- The Classical Academy CharterElementary · 1,909 students
- Pine Creek High SchoolHigh · 1,875 students
- Liberty High SchoolHigh · 1,526 students
- Air Academy High SchoolHigh · 1,380 students
- Rampart High SchoolHigh · 1,305 students
- Chinook Trail Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,075 students
Other schools in COLORADO SPRINGS
- The Classical Academy CharterElementary · 1,909 students
- Pine Creek High SchoolHigh · 1,875 students
- Doherty High SchoolHigh · 1,715 students
- Banning Lewis Ranch AcademyCombined · 1,697 students
- Liberty High SchoolHigh · 1,526 students
- Vista Ridge High SchoolHigh · 1,473 students
Other Explorer Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Explorer Elementary. Explorer Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 4.
- Explorer ElementaryCALEDONIA, MI · 556 students
- Explorer Elementary SchoolGoddard, KS · 433 students
- Explorer Elementary - 04Sioux Falls, SD · 338 students
Nearby schools
- Timberview Middle School0.6 mi · 837
- Liberty High School0.7 mi · 1,526
- Academy International Elementary School0.9 mi · 368
- Academy Endeavour Elementary School0.9 mi · 347
- Frontier Elementary School1.0 mi · 262
- Prairie Hills Elementary School1.1 mi · 348
Frequently asked questions
About Explorer Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Explorer Elementary School?
Explorer Elementary School enrolls approximately 470 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Explorer Elementary School serve?
Explorer Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Explorer Elementary School?
Approximately 16.0:1 students per teacher at Explorer Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Explorer Elementary School?
Student demographics at Explorer Elementary School are roughly 61% White, 21% Hispanic, 4% Black, 2% Asian, 11% Two or more.
Is Explorer Elementary School public or private?
Explorer Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Academy District 20.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.