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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the STEM Launch administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
677
Elementary
DISTRICT 422 · STATE 379
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ADAMS 12 FIVE STAR SCHOOLS·NCES 080690006561
STEM Launch
9450 PECOS STREET, THORNTON, CO 80206 · (720) 972-5120 · Adams County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL677 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
46 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.9:1 · STATE 16.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
79%
532 students
DISTRICT 57% · STATE 50%
Community
6
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 | 44 | 6% |
| Grade 1 | 40 | 6% |
| Grade 2 | 43 | 6% |
| Grade 3 | 69 | 10% |
| Grade 4 | 71 | 10% |
| Grade 5 | 85 | 13% |
| Grade 6 | 103 | 15% |
| Grade 7 | 118 | 17% |
| Grade 8 | 104 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (44) is 58% smaller than its 8th grade class (104).
Student demographics
42%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
36.8%
CO avg 44.9% . +5.6pp since 2023
Math
21.9%
CO avg 36.1% . +1.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 22 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Colorado schools, those numbers are about 45 and 36. Reading and writing scores are up about 6 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 36.8% | 21.9% |
| 2023-24 | 31.2% | 20.1% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
27.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
19.1%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 27% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 19% 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 STEM Launch
STEM Launch's state test result (27.1% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEM Launch this school | 677 | 78.6% | 27.1% |
| Heiman Elementary School EVANS | 602 | 71.9% | 19.3% |
| Southeast Elementary School BRIGHTON | 527 | 73.8% | 18.8% |
| Timberline PK-8 LONGMONT | 762 | 83.6% | 15.8% |
| Dos Rios Elementary School EVANS | 499 | 73.5% | 15.4% |
| Gust Elementary School DENVER | 602 | 82.2% | 37.5% |
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 STEM Launch ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Adams County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 27.1% | #634 of 931 | #32 of 89 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 21.9% | #677 of 940 ▲ 20 | #37 of 89 ▲ 7 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 36.8% | #546 of 946 ▲ 82 | #23 of 89 ▲ 11 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 677 | #74 of 1,056 | #13 of 97 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.7:1 | #331 of 896 | #17 of 90 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 42.2% | #632 of 896 | #54 of 90 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 78.6% | #167 of 983 | #38 of 91 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -20.7% | #270 of 664 | #27 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
677
-148 (-18%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
was 16.8:1
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 | 677 | 46 | 14.7:1 | 79% (532) |
| 2023-24 | 748 | 48.5 | 15.4:1 | 78% (585) |
| 2022-23 | 738 | 50 | 14.8:1 | 75% (554) |
| 2020-21 | 825 | 49 | 16.8:1 | 76% (625) |
| 2017-18 | 854 | 52.5 | 16.3:1 | 74% (632) |
| 2015-16 | 852 | 52 | 16.4:1 | 72% (616) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for STEM Launch.
Since 2017-18: students down 21% (854 to 677); teachers down 12% (52.5 to 46).
About STEM Launch
STEM Launch serves students in THORNTON, Colorado, as a large elementary school. The school counts 677 students across kindergarten through 8. The typical figure for elementary schools in Colorado is about 379 students.
Adams 12 Five Star Schools serves 34,466 students across 54 schools.
STEM Launch's enrollment is 73% Hispanic. Other groups include 20% White and 4% multiracial. By comparison, Adams County residents are about 43% Hispanic. The chance that two students picked at random at STEM Launch belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 42%.
The school's student-to-teacher ratio is about 14.7:1, with 46 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average ratio among elementary schools in Colorado is 16.6:1, higher than at this school. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 79% of enrollment. On average, public schools in Adams County report 62%.
STEM Launch scores 27.1% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 19.1%.
Within Adams County, median household income is about $94,571, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 29%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. The public schools of Adams County number 171 and enroll about 87,938.
Federal Heights Elementary School is the public school closest to STEM Launch, about 0.7 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 15.6%; STEM Launch's is 27.1%, ranking 1st of 8.
The school's federal locale classification is Suburb: Large.
The 2024-25 enrollment of 677 was 18% lower than in 2020-21, when it was 825. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (14.7:1) than in 2020-21 (16.8:1).
Topics for discussion here include sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. 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
Nearby schools
- Federal Heights Elementary School0.7 mi · 430
- North Mor Elementary School0.8 mi · 304
- Northglenn High School1.0 mi · 1,844
- Hillcrest Elementary School1.0 mi · 338
- North Star Elementary School1.1 mi · 320
- Sunset Ridge PK-81.3 mi · 449
Frequently asked questions
About STEM LaunchHow many students attend STEM Launch?
STEM Launch enrolls approximately 677 students in grades KG-08.
What grades does STEM Launch serve?
STEM Launch serves grades KG-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at STEM Launch?
The student-to-teacher ratio at STEM Launch is approximately 14.7:1 (46 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at STEM Launch?
Student demographics at STEM Launch are roughly 20% White, 73% Hispanic, 1% Black, 2% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is STEM Launch public or private?
STEM Launch is a public K-12 school, overseen by Adams 12 Five Star Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.