Enrollment
116
Elementary
DISTRICT 258 · STATE 379
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DURANGO SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 9-R·NCES 080348000450
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School
11274 HIGHWAY 140, HESPERUS, CO 81326 · (970) 588-3331 · La Plata County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL116 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 77% of Colorado public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats 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
10.2:1
11 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.4:1 · STATE 16.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
51%
59 students
DISTRICT 42% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 15 | 13% |
| Kindergarten | 19 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 16 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 16 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 19 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 17 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 14 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (19) is 36% larger than its 5th grade class (14).
Student demographics
43%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
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
CMAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
50.0%
CO avg 44.9% . -9.6pp since 2023
Math
43.8%
CO avg 36.1% . -7.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 44 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 10 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 7 points.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 50.0% | 43.8% |
| 2023-24 | 59.6% | 51.1% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of CO schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
50.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.9%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+14.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 50% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 36% 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 14 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 Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School's state test result (50.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School this school | 116 | 50.9% | 50.0% |
| Caliche Elementary School ILIFF | 139 | 48.9% | 26.3% |
| Sangre de Cristo Elementary School MOSCA | 110 | 56.4% | 49.8% |
| Sunnyside Elementary School DURANGO | 107 | 50.5% | 25.9% |
| Cheyenne Wells Elementary School CHEYENNE WELLS | 90 | 53.3% | N/A |
| North Fork School of Integrated Studies PAONIA | 112 | 51.8% | 58.5% |
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 Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In La Plata County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #294 of 931 | #3 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 43.8% | #357 of 940 ▼ 130 | #3 of 10 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #367 of 946 ▼ 149 | #3 of 10 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 116 | #983 of 1,056 | #10 of 12 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.9% | #465 of 983 | #3 of 11 |
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
116
+10 (+9%) vs 2020
-31% since 1990-91, when it was 167
Student : Teacher
10.2:1
was 15.1:1
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 | 116 | 11.3 | 10.2:1 | 51% (59) |
| 2023-24 | 106 | 10.7 | 9.9:1 | 56% (59) |
| 2022-23 | 98 | 11.6 | 8.4:1 | 70% (69) |
| 2020-21 | 106 | 7 | 15.1:1 | 40% (42) |
| 2017-18 | 140 | 10.5 | 13.3:1 | 62% (87) |
| 2015-16 | 153 | 11 | 13.9:1 | 55% (84) |
| 2010-11 | 152 | 10 | 15.2:1 | 34% (52) |
| 2000-01 | 180 | 13 | 13.8:1 | 37% (66) |
| 1990-91 | 167 | 18 | 9.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 17% (140 to 116); teachers up 8% (10.5 to 11.3).
About Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School is an elementary school in HESPERUS, Colorado, and it is part of Durango School District No. 9-R. Its enrollment is 116 students, spread over pre-K through 5. Across elementary schools in Colorado, the average enrollment is about 379.
The district for Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School is Durango School District No. 9-R, with 13 schools and 5,089 students.
The student body at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School is 72% White. The rest of enrollment is 22% Hispanic and 3% Native American. Among all residents of La Plata County, the White share is about 82%. A diversity index of 43% means there is a 43% chance two randomly chosen students at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School are from different groups.
There are 11.3 full-time-equivalent teachers at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School, giving a ratio of 10.2:1. By comparison, the average for elementary schools in Colorado is 16.6:1. A total of 59 students, or 51%, are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The gap from the 39% average for public schools in La Plata County is 12 points.
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School holds an A- allk12 Grade, placing it above 77% of Colorado public elementary schools.
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School ranks in the top 10% of Colorado schools after adjusting test results for student poverty. Actual: 50.0%. Predicted: 35.9%. Difference: 14.1 points.
In La Plata County, home to about 56,331 people, median household income comes to about $86,056, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 49%, and about 8% of people live in poverty. La Plata County's 24 public schools enroll about 7,504 students and include Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School.
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School is about 14.3 miles from Sunnyside Elementary School, its nearest public school. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School is 2nd of 6 on proficiency.
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School is in rural territory some distance from an urban area, a location NCES labels Rural: Distant.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School had a net gain of 10 students, or 9%. The ratio was 15.1:1 in 2020-21 and 10.2:1 in 2024-25.
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La Plata County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
56,331
Census ACS
Median income
$86,056
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
49%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
24
7,504 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Durango School District No. 9-R
- Durango High SchoolHigh · 1,352 students
- Colorado Connections Academy @ DurangoCombined · 752 students
- Escalante Middle SchoolMiddle · 461 students
- Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 452 students
- Riverview Elementary SchoolElementary · 374 students
- Needham Elementary SchoolElementary · 367 students
Nearby schools
- Sunnyside Elementary School14.3 mi · 107
- The Juniper School15.0 mi · 171
- Escalante Middle School15.2 mi · 461
- Colorado Connections Academy @ Durango15.3 mi · 752
- Durango Big Picture High School15.3 mi · 99
- Southwest Colorado eSchool15.7 mi · 48
Frequently asked questions
About Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School?
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School enrolls approximately 116 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School serve?
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School?
Approximately 10.2:1 students per teacher at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School?
At Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School, the student body is approximately 72% White, 22% Hispanic, 1% Black, 2% Two or more.
What district is Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School in?
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School is part of Durango School District No. 9-R.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.