The top reported proficiency rate is 19% in Math. The lowest is 11% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Oakland Elementary
Oakland Elementary is a regular public school in the Denver Public Schools system, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a neighborhood school, not a charter or magnet. Located in a residential area of northeast Denver, the school draws its enrollment from the surrounding community. With an enrollment that is small for a K-5 campus, Oakland Elementary serves a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of Black students and smaller percentages of white, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, multiracial, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. A large majority of students come from households with low income, as measured by the share qualifying for free or reduced-price meals.
The school’s state assessment results are well below the district and county averages. On the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, the proportion of students scoring proficient or above in math was less than one-fifth of test takers, and in English language arts it was just over one-tenth. Science proficiency data for fifth grade was suppressed by the state, a common practice when the number of students tested or the count of proficient students is very small. The school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quarter among the handful of Denver County districts that reported testing results. Across all tested subjects and grades, the combined proficiency rate was roughly fifteen percent, meaning the large majority of students are not yet meeting grade-level expectations. A parent may want to talk with the school about what academic interventions and supports it offers for students who are below benchmark.
Denver itself is a large, economically diverse city and state capital. The school sits within a major urban district that has seen significant recent changes. In 2022, voters approved a mill levy override to increase teacher pay and expand mental health services in schools. In 2024, voters passed the largest bond in district history for facility improvements, safety upgrades, and new construction. The district also shifted to a new unified enrollment system for school choice starting in the 2024-2025 school year, and it adopted a science-of-reading-aligned literacy curriculum across elementary grades beginning in the 2023-2024 school year. These district-wide initiatives are intended to strengthen instruction and support, though their effect on Oakland Elementary specifically is not yet clear from the available data.
Housing in the zip code is modest compared with national medians, with home values below the Colorado state benchmark and rents that consume a moderate share of household income. The neighborhood around the school is a mix of single-family homes and apartments, typical of Denver's older suburban fabric within the city limits.
Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, staffing ratios, and course access were not reported for this school, so it is not possible to assess those dimensions of the school environment. Likewise, information on special education and English learner services was not available in the source data. The school serves only the elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate to report.
Oakland Elementary is a school where the vast majority of students are not yet meeting state standards in reading and math. That is a straightforward reading of the testing data, and it is the central fact a family would need to weigh. At the same time, the school serves a high-poverty population in a large urban district that has recently directed substantial funding toward facilities, teacher compensation, and mental health resources. A family considering this school should learn about the specific academic support programs, reading instruction approaches, and enrichment opportunities available within the building, as well as how the school’s teachers and leadership are working to raise achievement. It is not a school that currently posts strong aggregate test scores, but for families whose priority is a local neighborhood school in a diverse urban setting, with the district investing in improvements, it is worth a closer look.
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