The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in English language arts. The lowest is 41% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Arrowwood Elementary School
Arrowwood Elementary School serves students from preschool through sixth grade in Highlands Ranch, a master-planned suburban community in Douglas County. The school occupies a regular public school building within the Douglas County School District No. Re 1, one of the largest districts in Colorado covering the southern Denver metro area.
The community of Highlands Ranch was built as a planned residential development and has no traditional downtown. Daily errands require driving, though the area has a network of trails and bike paths connecting neighborhoods. The community is divided into four sections, and Arrowwood serves one of these residential areas. Housing values in the zip code are high relative to national benchmarks, and the area has experienced a recent modest softening in both home prices and rental costs. The community is approaching buildout after decades of rapid growth, meaning the school’s enrollment draws from a largely built-out residential base rather than a fast-expanding one.
Arrowwood’s academic results from the state’s CMAS assessments provide a clear picture of its performance. In English language arts, a solid majority of tested students in grades three through six scored at the proficient or advanced levels. In math, slightly fewer than half of students reached that same threshold. Science, tested only in fifth grade, showed proficiency at a lower level, with roughly two out of every five students meeting the state’s standard. These are the most recent available results. The school participates in state testing at high rates, above the thresholds the state uses to flag low participation.
A modest share of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, placing Arrowwood as a predominantly middle- to higher-income school by that measure. The student population is majority white, with Hispanic students making up the second largest group and smaller shares of Asian, two-or-more-races, and Black students. Enrollment totals in the mid-hundreds, which is a typical size for an elementary school serving this grade span. the district provides an evidence-based literacy curriculum adopted district-wide for elementary schools that emphasizes phonics and comprehension.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. The comparison data was too limited to place Arrowwood meaningfully against other Douglas County schools; only a single school had sufficient data for the comparison framework, so the tool was not able to make a relative assessment.
Those interested in the school may want to ask the school directly about special education and English learner support services, as that data was not available in the reported figures. The district has made recent investments through voter-approved funding measures that include teacher compensation improvements and mental health support, which may be relevant to families considering the quality and stability of the instructional staff at Arrowwood. The district also passed a bond for facility upgrades and new construction, though Arrowwood’s specific inclusion in those plans was not detailed in the publicly reported sources.
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