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If you could change one rule at Prairie Hills Elementary School, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
378
Elementary
DISTRICT 422 · STATE 379
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ADAMS 12 FIVE STAR SCHOOLS·NCES 080690001945
Prairie Hills Elementary School
13801 GARFIELD PLACE, THORNTON, CO 80602 · (720) 972-8780 · Adams County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL378 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 58% of Colorado public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats 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
17.6:1
22 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.9:1 · STATE 16.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
30%
114 students
DISTRICT 57% · STATE 50%
Community
1
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 50 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 49 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 59 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 66 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 69 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 85 | 22% |
This year's kindergarten class (50) is 41% smaller than its 5th grade class (85).
Student demographics
60%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 63% · 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
44.5%
CO avg 44.9% . -9.0pp since 2023
Math
43.4%
CO avg 36.1% . -1.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 45 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 are down about 9 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 2 points.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 44.5% | 43.4% |
| 2023-24 | 53.5% | 45.3% |
% 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
48.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.4%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 48% 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 Prairie Hills Elementary School
Prairie Hills Elementary School's state test result (48.0% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Hills Elementary School this school | 378 | 30.2% | 48.0% |
| High Plains Elementary School GREENWOOD VILLAGE | 462 | 29.7% | 49.9% |
| Sand Creek Elementary School HIGHLANDS RANCH | 322 | 27.3% | 57.4% |
| Creekside Elementary School at Martin Park BOULDER | 359 | 30.1% | 74.1% |
| Ryan Elementary School WESTMINSTER | 511 | 29.9% | 50.9% |
| Tarver Elementary School THORNTON | 475 | 37.5% | 40.9% |
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 Prairie Hills Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Adams County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 48.0% | #328 of 931 | #8 of 89 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 43.4% | #362 of 940 ▼ 59 | #8 of 89 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.5% | #443 of 946 ▼ 133 | #15 of 89 ▼ 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 378 | #485 of 1,056 | #62 of 97 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.6:1 | #732 of 896 | #60 of 90 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.7% | #210 of 896 | #19 of 90 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 30.2% | #711 of 983 | #87 of 91 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -24.2% | #209 of 664 | #22 of 63 |
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
378
-72 (-16%) vs 2020
-29% since 2010-11, when it was 535
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
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 | 378 | 21.5 | 17.6:1 | 30% (114) |
| 2023-24 | 416 | 23 | 18.1:1 | 31% (130) |
| 2022-23 | 449 | 24 | 18.7:1 | 22% (101) |
| 2020-21 | 450 | 26 | 17.3:1 | 14% (61) |
| 2017-18 | 499 | 23.6 | 21.2:1 | 14% (68) |
| 2015-16 | 547 | 28 | 19.5:1 | 15% (84) |
| 2010-11 | 535 | 27 | 19.8:1 | 8% (45) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Prairie Hills Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 24% (499 to 378); teachers down 9% (23.6 to 21.5).
About Prairie Hills Elementary School
Prairie Hills Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school in Colorado, located in THORNTON. It covers kindergarten through 5, with a total enrollment of 378 students.
Adams 12 Five Star Schools (54 schools, 34,466 students) runs Prairie Hills Elementary School.
White students account for 57% of enrollment at Prairie Hills Elementary School. The remaining students are 25% Hispanic, 10% Asian, and 7% multiracial. For comparison, Adams County is about 55% White. By the diversity index, Prairie Hills Elementary School comes in at 60%.
The school has about 17.6 students per teacher and 21.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. That ratio is over the 16.6:1 average for elementary schools in Colorado. Federal records put free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at 30%. For comparison, public schools in Adams County average 62%.
Measured against Colorado public elementary schools, Prairie Hills Elementary School receives a B. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Prairie Hills Elementary School's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (48.0%) and its predicted rate (48.4%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Colorado schools.
Census estimates describe Adams County this way: median household income is about $94,571, 29% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of people live in poverty. The public schools of Adams County number 171 and enroll about 87,938.
The shortest distance from Prairie Hills Elementary School to another public school is about 0.7 miles, to Tarver Elementary School. The five-mile area around Prairie Hills Elementary School holds at least 8 other public schools. Nearby schools with test data average 41.0% proficiency; Prairie Hills Elementary School posts 48.0%.
Locale: Suburb: Large. In NCES terms, the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Prairie Hills Elementary School saw enrollment fall 16% between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Discussions about Prairie Hills Elementary School may include school safety, transportation, and start times. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Adams County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
530,225
Census ACS
Median income
$94,571
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
171
87,938 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Adams 12 Five Star Schools
- Legacy High SchoolHigh · 2,052 students
- Horizon High SchoolHigh · 1,966 students
- Northglenn High SchoolHigh · 1,844 students
- Mountain Range High SchoolHigh · 1,788 students
- Stargate Charter SchoolCombined · 1,572 students
- Prospect Ridge AcademyCombined · 1,478 students
Other schools in THORNTON
- Riverdale Ridge High SchoolHigh · 1,784 students
- Stargate Charter SchoolCombined · 1,572 students
- Thornton High SchoolHigh · 1,439 students
- Rocky Top Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,052 students
- Rodger Quist Middle SchoolMiddle · 855 students
- York InternationalCombined · 776 students
Other Prairie Hills Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Prairie Hills Elementary. Prairie Hills Elementary School is the largest of the 2.
- Prairie Hills Elementary SchoolCOLORADO SPRINGS, CO · 348 students
Nearby schools
- Tarver Elementary School0.7 mi · 475
- Rocky Top Middle School0.8 mi · 1,052
- Eagleview Elementary School0.9 mi · 451
- Bright Horizons Preschool1.0 mi · 36
- Horizon High School1.0 mi · 1,966
- Discovery Magnet School1.4 mi · 692
Frequently asked questions
About Prairie Hills Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Prairie Hills Elementary School?
Prairie Hills Elementary School enrolls approximately 378 students in grades KG-05.
Is Prairie Hills Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Prairie Hills Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Prairie Hills Elementary School have?
Prairie Hills Elementary School employs 22 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.6:1.
How diverse is Prairie Hills Elementary School?
Prairie Hills Elementary School reports a student body of 57% White, 25% Hispanic, 1% Black, 10% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees Prairie Hills Elementary School?
Prairie Hills Elementary School is overseen by Adams 12 Five Star Schools in Adams County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.