The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in English language arts. The lowest is 53% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Fox Creek Elementary School
Fox Creek Elementary School is a regular public school serving grades PK through 6 in Highlands Ranch, a master-planned suburban community in Douglas County. It is one of a large number of elementary campuses spread across the community’s segmented neighborhoods; the school itself sits on a separate campus accessed by car. Highlands Ranch has no traditional downtown and grew rapidly from its founding through the early 2000s, though development is now approaching buildout and growth has slowed. The community is primarily residential and car-dependent, with daily errands requiring driving, though it maintains an extensive system of trails and parks.
The school’s enrollment draws from a predominantly white student body, with a modest share of students who are Hispanic, with small shares of Asian students and students of two or more races, and very small groups of Black, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. A relatively small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on the share of students with disabilities and the share of English learners was not available; a parent wanting to understand how those populations are served may want to ask the school directly. As a PK-6 school, Fox Creek does not have a high school graduation rate.
On the Colorado Measures of Academic Success assessments, a clear majority of students met or exceeded the state’s proficiency standards in English language arts. In math, around half of students met that same bar — a lower share than in reading, though still a solid showing. At the fifth-grade level, science results were comparable to the English language arts proficiency rate, with a majority of students scoring at a proficient level. For a family weighing academic performance, the school’s results point to a core strength in literacy, with math as an area where a notable share of students are not yet at grade-level. Participation rates on the assessments were high, lending credibility to the results.
The school’s parent district, Douglas County School District No. Re 1, has seen several significant system-wide investments that affect Fox Creek families. Voters approved a mill levy override in 2022, the district’s first in many years, dedicating ongoing property-tax revenue to teacher compensation, mental health support, and social-emotional learning programs. In 2024, voters approved both a large bond and a second mill levy override; the bond funds new school construction, safety upgrades, technology refresh, and building renovations without increasing the tax rate because old bonds are retiring, and the override provides ongoing funding for teacher and staff recruitment and retention. The district also rolled out a new evidence-based literacy curriculum across all elementary schools starting in the 2023-24 school year, a shift in how reading is taught that is now in place at Fox Creek.
Housing in the Highlands Ranch area is expensive relative to national norms, and the cost of owning a home is notably higher than renting; entering the local market requires substantial resources. The community is well-established and nearly built out, so the housing stock is not expanding quickly.
Fox Creek serves a single elementary grade band, so there is no course access data for advanced, career, or dual-credit pathways — those sit at the middle and high school levels. The school’s size is moderate for an elementary in a large suburban district. For a family looking for a suburban public elementary with strong English language arts outcomes, a district that has recently made sustained tax-funded investments in staffing and buildings, and a setting that is car-dependent and nearly fully developed, this is a straightforward fit. A family whose priority is math proficiency should look closely at the school’s math results to see whether the half of students not currently at benchmark is a concern for their child’s needs.
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