Enrollment
387
Elementary
DISTRICT 422 · STATE 379
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ADAMS 12 FIVE STAR SCHOOLS·NCES 080690001191
Thornton Elementary School
900 EPPINGER BOULEVARD, THORNTON, CO 80229 · (720) 972-5660 · Adams County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL387 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.9:1 · STATE 16.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
88%
341 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, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 41 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 51 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 49 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 65 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 59 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 58 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 64 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (51) is 20% smaller than its 5th grade class (64).
Student demographics
44%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
16.1%
CO avg 44.9% . +5.6pp since 2023
Math
9.6%
CO avg 36.1% . +5.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the CMAS, Colorado's statewide test, about 16 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 10 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 5 points.
CMAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 16.1% | 9.6% |
| 2023-24 | 10.5% | 4.3% |
% 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
11.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
13.3%
based on CO schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 12% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 13% 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 Thornton Elementary School
Thornton Elementary School's state test result (11.9% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton Elementary School this school | 387 | 88.1% | 11.9% |
| John E. Flynn A Marzano Academy WESTMINSTER | 354 | 76.0% | 24.8% |
| Scott Elementary School GREELEY | 566 | 79.2% | 16.4% |
| Tennyson Knolls Preparatory School ARVADA | 364 | 88.5% | 16.1% |
| Leroy Elementary NORTHGLENN | 435 | 78.9% | 16.8% |
| Alicia Sanchez International School LAFAYETTE | 321 | 78.5% | 25.6% |
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 Thornton Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Colorado | In Adams County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 11.9% | #904 of 931 | #81 of 89 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 9.6% | #890 of 940 ▲ 34 | #74 of 89 ▲ 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 16.1% | #879 of 946 ▲ 47 | #74 of 89 ▲ 8 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 387 | #463 of 1,056 | #58 of 97 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.8:1 | #206 of 896 | #4 of 90 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 44.2% | #585 of 896 | #52 of 90 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 88.1% | #60 of 983 | #18 of 91 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -13.2% | #416 of 664 | #37 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
387
+48 (+14%) vs 2020
-41% since 1990-91, when it was 657
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
was 14.1:1
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 | 387 | 28 | 13.8:1 | 88% (341) |
| 2023-24 | 372 | 28.3 | 13.1:1 | 88% (326) |
| 2022-23 | 391 | 25 | 15.6:1 | 80% (311) |
| 2020-21 | 339 | 24 | 14.1:1 | 82% (279) |
| 2017-18 | 446 | 24.3 | 18.4:1 | 70% (310) |
| 2015-16 | 399 | 23 | 17.4:1 | 77% (307) |
| 2010-11 | 446 | 28 | 15.9:1 | 86% (385) |
| 2000-01 | 584 | 33 | 17.7:1 | 47% (272) |
| 1990-91 | 657 | 36 | 18.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Thornton Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 13% (446 to 387); teachers up 15% (24.3 to 28).
About Thornton Elementary School
Federal records list Thornton Elementary School as an elementary school in THORNTON, Colorado. It covers pre-K through 5, with a total enrollment of 387 students.
Adams 12 Five Star Schools is the district for Thornton Elementary School. It has 54 schools and 34,466 students.
By race and ethnicity, Thornton Elementary School is 73% Hispanic. The school is also 12% White, 9% Asian, 3% multiracial, and 2% Black. That is higher than the 43% Hispanic share among all Adams County residents. By the diversity index, Thornton Elementary School comes in at 44%.
Dividing enrollment by its 28 full-time-equivalent teachers gives a ratio of about 13.8:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in Colorado is 16.6:1, higher than at this school. Thornton Elementary School reports 88% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. For comparison, public schools in Adams County average 62%.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Thornton Elementary School would be expected to post about 13.3%. Its actual average proficiency rate on state tests is 11.9%.
Adams County has these Census figures: median household income is about $94,571, about 29% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. Thornton Elementary School is among the 171 public schools in Adams County.
Nearby, Thornton Middle School is about 0.2 miles away. Thornton Elementary School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Local comparison: Thornton Elementary School ranks 4th of 6 nearby schools, at 11.9% versus a 15.3% average.
The school's federal locale classification is Suburb: Large.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the student count grew from 339 to 387.
The Thornton Elementary School community page is open for posts about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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 Thornton Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 2 states are named Thornton Elementary. Thornton Elementary School is the 4th largest of the 4.
- Thornton Elementary SchoolARLINGTON, TX · 849 students
- Thornton Elementary SchoolTEMPLE, TX · 763 students
- Thornton Elementary SchoolSAN ANTONIO, TX · 573 students
Nearby schools
- Thornton Middle School0.2 mi · 721
- Thornton High School0.3 mi · 1,439
- New America School - Thornton0.4 mi · 190
- Achieve Academy0.7 mi · 370
- York International0.9 mi · 776
- Preschool on Poze0.9 mi · 193
Frequently asked questions
About Thornton Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Thornton Elementary School?
Thornton Elementary School enrolls approximately 387 students in grades PK-05.
Is Thornton Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Thornton Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Thornton Elementary School have?
Thornton Elementary School employs 28 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.8:1.
How diverse is Thornton Elementary School?
Thornton Elementary School reports a student body of 12% White, 73% Hispanic, 2% Black, 9% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Thornton Elementary School?
Thornton 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.