Enrollment
247
Elementary
DISTRICT 263 · STATE 379
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DELTA COUNTY JOINT DISTRICT NO. 50·NCES 080333001337
Paonia K-8
430 BOX ELDER, PAONIA, CO 81428 · (970) 527-3639 · Delta County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL247 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
17 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 35.0:1 · STATE 16.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
58%
144 students
DISTRICT 57% · 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
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
64.4%
CO avg 44.9% . -0.3pp since 2023
Math
42.9%
CO avg 36.1% . -10.4pp 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 43 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Colorado schools, those numbers are about 45 and 36. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are down about 10 points.
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
57.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
31.4%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+26.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 58% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 31% 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 27 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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
247
+43 (+21%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
was 19.3:1
% White
81%
was 79%
% Hispanic
11%
was 15%
% Black
1%
was 2%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About Paonia K-8
Paonia K-8 is a tight-knit K-5 school in PAONIA, Colorado, overseen by Delta County Joint District No. 50. The school educates 247 students in grades pre-K through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 35% smaller than the state mean of about 379.
Delta County Joint District No. 50 runs 17 schools in total, collectively educating 4,591 students. Paonia K-8 is one of those campuses.
Demographically, Paonia K-8 logs that 81% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority; the rest reads as 11% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. Compared to Delta County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.
On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.7:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 16.6:1 average. Roughly 58% of students at Paonia K-8 qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.
On a demographically-adjusted basis, Paonia K-8 is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 31.4%; this one delivers 57.9%, a residual of +26.5 points.
Around the school, ACS estimates for Delta County put median household earnings sit near $57,774, about 27% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. Paonia K-8 is one of 18 public schools in Delta County (combined enrollment of about 4,591 students).
Nearest neighbor: North Fork School of Integrated Studies, around 0.0 miles off. Within ten miles, there are 3 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Paonia K-8 ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 40.6%.
Geographically, the school is in a rural area.
Trend over the last 7 years. Paonia K-8's enrollment has edged up 21% since 2018, when it stood at 204 (now 247). Class-load math has tightened: from 19.3:1 in 2018 to 14.7:1 in 2025.
On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Delta County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
31,598
Census ACS
Median income
$57,774
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
18
4,591 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Delta County Joint District No. 50
- Delta High SchoolHigh · 626 students
- Delta Middle SchoolMiddle · 498 students
- Garnet Mesa Elementary SchoolElementary · 488 students
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolElementary · 371 students
- Cedaredge Elementary SchoolElementary · 346 students
- Vision Charter AcademyCombined · 311 students
Other schools in PAONIA
- North Fork School of Integrated StudiesElementary · 112 students
Nearby schools
- North Fork School of Integrated Studies0.0 mi · 112
- North Fork High School8.0 mi · 265
- Hotchkiss Elementary School8.0 mi · 297
- North Fork Montessori @ Crawford11.4 mi · 120
- Cedaredge High School17.5 mi · 280
- Cedaredge Middle School17.6 mi · 154
Frequently asked questions
About Paonia K-8What is the total enrollment at Paonia K-8?
Paonia K-8 enrolls approximately 247 students in grades PK-08.
What age range does Paonia K-8 serve?
Paonia K-8 serves students from grade PK through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Paonia K-8?
Approximately 14.7:1 students per teacher at Paonia K-8.
What is the student diversity at Paonia K-8?
Student demographics at Paonia K-8 are roughly 81% White, 11% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Paonia K-8 public or private?
Paonia K-8 is a public K-12 school, overseen by Delta County Joint District No. 50.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.