Park Elementary School

Park Elementary School operates as an average-sized primary school in DURANGO, Colorado, one of the schools within Durango School District No. 9-R. Current enrollment sits at 452 students spanning grades pre-K through 5.

Across the 13 schools in Durango School District No. 9-R (5,089 students total), Park Elementary School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, Park Elementary School lists that White students make up the majority at 57%. The remainder consists of 24% Hispanic, 8% Native American, 8% multiracial. By comparison, La Plata County as a whole is about 82% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, The school employs 36 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 12.7:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 16.6:1 average. Roughly 39% of students at Park Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Park Elementary School 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 43.1%; this one delivers 57.4%, a residual of +14.3 points.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for La Plata County put median household income runs about $86,056, 49% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. Park Elementary School is one of 24 public schools in La Plata County (combined enrollment of about 7,504 students).

The closest other public school is Animas High School, roughly 0.5 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Park Elementary School comes 1st of 6 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 42.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a town-center area.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Park Elementary School has remained close to its prior level, going from 455 students in 2018 to 452 in 2025. Class-load math has tightened: from 14.2:1 in 2018 to 12.7:1 in 2025.

On the community side, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.