The top reported proficiency rate is 16% in English language arts. The lowest is 15% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Iowa Elementary School
Iowa Elementary School serves students in pre-kindergarten through grade five and is a regular public school in the Aurora Joint District No. 28 of the counties of Adams and Arapahoe. It sits within the city of Aurora, a sprawling, largely suburban city composed of hundreds of subdivisions, master-planned communities, and commercial centers. Aurora is the third-largest city in Colorado, covering a vast footprint across three counties. Its built environment is predominantly car-dependent suburban sprawl, though it is served by RTD light rail lines and feeder buses. The largest employer is Buckley Space Force Base, with other major employers including the Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado Hospital, and the city’s two main school districts. Aurora lacks a single dominant traditional downtown; civic life and institutions are distributed across its large geographic area. The city was one of the fastest-growing in the United States during the late 1970s and 1980s, and growth continues, particularly in the corridor near Denver International Airport.
The district itself has recently undertaken notable structural changes. In November 2022, voters approved a bond measure for facility improvements, safety upgrades, and school modernization across Aurora Public Schools. Additionally, the district has been engaged in a school consolidation and repurposing process, involving the closure or repurposing of underutilized buildings. This district-wide restructuring directly affects school assignments and feeder patterns, representing a lasting change to the educational landscape that families should be aware of.
Housing values in the area around the school sit below the state benchmark, and rents are also below the state average, reflecting a more accessible market than the broader Colorado front range. A substantial share of students at Iowa Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a context of significant economic need among its families.
The student body is diverse. Hispanic students make up about half the enrollment, with Black, white, and Asian students each representing smaller but notable shares. The school serves a mid-sized elementary population for its grade band, with enrollment distributed across grades kindergarten through five and a smaller pre-kindergarten program.
State assessment results from the most recent tested year show that overall proficiency across math, English language arts, and science was low, with roughly one in seven students meeting the state’s proficiency benchmarks in each subject. Participation rates on the assessments were high, above the state’s threshold for reporting validity. When placed against other districts in Arapahoe County, the school’s overall proficiency index lands in the bottom quartile among those for which data is available. A parent considering this school will want to look into the academic support structures in place and how the school works to move proficiency upward.
Because this is an elementary school serving only through grade five, there is no graduation rate to report, and that metric does not apply. No discipline data, attendance data, or staffing ratios were provided in the source materials, so a picture of school climate and resource levels remains incomplete. Program offerings such as art, music, or specialized academic pathways were also not part of the available data.
The school is not a charter school, and its magnet and Title I status were not specified in the data. The combination of a low proficiency context, high economic need among families, and a district undergoing consolidation and modernization makes Iowa Elementary a school where a family would benefit from direct conversation with the school’s leadership about academic interventions, enrichment opportunities, and how the school supports students who are below grade-level benchmarks.
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