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What do students at Ponderosa Elementary School actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
634
Elementary
DISTRICT 478 · STATE 379
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHERRY CREEK SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 080291000200
Ponderosa Elementary School
1885 SOUTH LIMA STREET, AURORA, CO 80012 · (720) 747-2800 · Arapahoe County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL634 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.3:1 · STATE 16.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
71%
453 students
DISTRICT 38% · STATE 50%
Community
5
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 | 51 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 89 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 97 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 101 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 108 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 94 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 94 | 15% |
Student demographics
72%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · 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
18.6%
CO avg 44.9% . -2.5pp since 2023
Math
17.9%
CO avg 36.1% . +0.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 19 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 18 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 3 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 18.6% | 17.9% |
| 2023-24 | 21.1% | 17.7% |
% 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
18.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
23.4%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 18% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 23% 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 →
Where Ponderosa Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Arapahoe County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 18.2% | #793 of 931 | #76 of 96 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 17.9% | #746 of 940 | #71 of 96 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 18.6% | #850 of 946 | #79 of 96 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 634 | #91 of 1,056 | #15 of 104 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.1:1 | #779 of 896 | #81 of 97 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 71.6% | #29 of 896 | #22 of 97 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 71.5% | #254 of 983 | #32 of 101 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.0% | #519 of 664 | #52 of 70 |
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.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
634
+120 (+23%) vs 2020
+7% since 1990-91, when it was 591
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
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 | 634 | 35 | 18.1:1 | 71% (453) |
| 2023-24 | 572 | 36 | 15.9:1 | 76% (435) |
| 2022-23 | 517 | 36.8 | 14.0:1 | 69% (359) |
| 2020-21 | 514 | 34 | 15.1:1 | 72% (369) |
| 2017-18 | 689 | 45.9 | 15.0:1 | 72% (499) |
| 2015-16 | 759 | 55 | 13.8:1 | 70% (531) |
| 2010-11 | 755 | 49 | 15.4:1 | 62% (467) |
| 2000-01 | 642 | 40 | 16.1:1 | 26% (164) |
| 1990-91 | 591 | 29 | 20.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ponderosa Elementary School.
About Ponderosa Elementary School
Ponderosa Elementary School is a high-enrollment elementary school based in AURORA, Colorado. School enrollment was 634 students in 2024-25, in pre-K through 5. For comparison, elementary schools in Colorado average about 379 students.
Across its 70 schools, Cherry Creek School District enrolls 52,099 students. Ponderosa Elementary School is one of those schools.
Hispanic students form the largest group at Ponderosa Elementary School, 44% of enrollment. The next largest groups are 22% Black, 15% White, 10% multiracial, and 8% Asian. In Arapahoe County overall, about 22% of residents are Hispanic. Ponderosa Elementary School has a diversity index of 72%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The teaching staff at Ponderosa Elementary School is 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 18.1:1. That ratio is over the 16.6:1 average for elementary schools in Colorado. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 71%. For comparison, public schools in Arapahoe County average 50%.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Ponderosa Elementary School would score about 23.4%. It scores 18.2%, 5.2 points below that figure.
In Arapahoe County (population about 659,844), median household income is about $101,087, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 47%, and about 6% of people live in poverty. A total of 176 public schools operate in Arapahoe County, serving about 115,502 students.
The nearest public school is Village East Community Elementary School, at about 0.6 miles. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. On state test proficiency, Ponderosa Elementary School ranks 3rd in a group of 9 nearby schools.
Ponderosa Elementary School is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels City: Large.
The number of students grew from 514 to 634 over 4 years. By 2024-25, the school had 18.1 students per teacher, compared with 15.1 in 2020-21.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Ponderosa Elementary School. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Arapahoe County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
659,844
Census ACS
Median income
$101,087
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
47%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
176
115,502 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Cherry Creek School District
- Cherry Creek High SchoolHigh · 3,852 students
- Cherokee Trail High SchoolHigh · 3,089 students
- Eaglecrest High SchoolHigh · 2,851 students
- Grandview High SchoolHigh · 2,684 students
- Smoky Hill High SchoolHigh · 2,297 students
- Overland High SchoolHigh · 2,228 students
Other schools in AURORA
- Cherokee Trail High SchoolHigh · 3,089 students
- Grandview High SchoolHigh · 2,684 students
- Aurora Central CampusCombined · 2,468 students
- Smoky Hill High SchoolHigh · 2,297 students
- Overland High SchoolHigh · 2,228 students
- Rangeview High SchoolHigh · 2,078 students
Nearby schools
- Village East Community Elementary School0.6 mi · 821
- Eastridge Community Elementary School0.8 mi · 716
- Overland High School0.8 mi · 2,228
- Prairie Middle School0.9 mi · 1,491
- Highline Community Elementary School1.4 mi · 435
- Polton Community Elementary School1.4 mi · 466
Frequently asked questions
About Ponderosa Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Ponderosa Elementary School?
Ponderosa Elementary School enrolls approximately 634 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Ponderosa Elementary School serve?
Ponderosa Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Ponderosa Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Ponderosa Elementary School is approximately 18.1:1 (35 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Ponderosa Elementary School?
Ponderosa Elementary School reports a student body of 15% White, 44% Hispanic, 22% Black, 8% Asian, 10% Two or more.
What district is Ponderosa Elementary School in?
Ponderosa Elementary School is part of Cherry Creek School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.