The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in English language arts. The lowest is 53% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Heatherwood Elementary School
Heatherwood Elementary School is a regular public school in Boulder, Colorado, serving preschool through fifth grade within the Boulder Valley School District. It draws its student body from a residential area of the city and operates as a neighborhood school for its attendance zone.
On state assessments administered in the 2024–25 school year, Heatherwood’s students posted results that place the school in the top quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects relative to districts in Boulder County. In mathematics, a substantial majority of students in grades three through five met or exceeded the state’s proficiency standard. In English language arts, the share of students reaching that level was similarly strong. Science is tested only in fifth grade, and about half of those students scored proficient or above. These figures indicate a school where, on balance, most students are meeting grade-level expectations, and the performance is notably high compared with other schools in the county.
The student body is small for an elementary school, with enrollment spread across grades from preschool through fifth. The school serves a predominantly white population, with smaller shares of students who are two or more races, Hispanic, Asian, and Black. About one in seven students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is low by national standards. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available; a parent who wants to understand how the school serves those groups would need to ask the school directly. The school is not a charter and does not appear to have a magnet or Title I designation.
Boulder itself shapes much of the context around Heatherwood. The city is a college town anchored by the University of Colorado Boulder, a major employer alongside Ball Corporation, federal research institutes such as NCAR and NOAA, and the school district itself. Downtown Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall is a pedestrian retail core, and the Flatirons and extensive open-space trail systems give the city a distinctly outdoor-oriented character. The housing market is expensive. Home values and rents are well above national averages, and the cost of entering the local market is high. The city’s population has been roughly stable or slightly declining in recent years, and Boulder has a history of growth-management policies including building height limits.
The district that operates Heatherwood, Boulder Valley School District No. Re2, has been through notable changes. Voters approved a large bond issue in 2022 that is funding safety upgrades, mental health spaces, classroom additions, and technology improvements across all schools, with construction ongoing through 2026. A new elementary school in Erie opened in 2024, partly to address enrollment growth in that area. At the same time, the school board voted in late 2024 to close two small elementary schools elsewhere in the district because of declining enrollment and high per-pupil costs; district enrollment has been falling over the past decade. A mill levy override passed in 2022 is providing additional annual funding for teacher and staff compensation.
Heatherwood itself has not been directly mentioned in those closure discussions, but the district’s broader enrollment trends are something a prospective parent may want to track. There is no publicly reported information about class sizes, staffing ratios, or chronic absenteeism for this school. No data on program offerings such as art, music, physical education, or before- and after-school care is available in the source material, so those details would need to come from the school directly.
For a family considering a move to this part of Boulder, the picture is one of a well-performing elementary school in an expensive but amenity-rich city, set within a district that is investing in facilities and teacher compensation while also managing the challenges of a gradual enrollment decline. The school’s student population is economically homogenous relative to many public schools, and its academic results are strong. A parent who wants to know whether the school fits their child’s specific needs would be wise to visit and discuss programming and support services with the principal and teachers.
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