The top reported proficiency rate is 19% in English language arts. The lowest is 14% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Gypsum Elementary School
Gypsum Elementary School serves prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the town of Gypsum, Colorado, part of Eagle County School District No. Re 50. The school sits in a community that blends residential neighborhoods with an industrial presence, centered on the American Gypsum drywall plant and open‑pit mine, the town’s largest employer. Gypsum is a mountain‑valley town along the Eagle River, with a downtown strip of restaurants and shops along U.S. Route 6, Interstate 70 running along its northern edge, and the Eagle County Regional Airport just south of town. Outdoor recreation – fishing, hiking, biking, camping – is readily accessible, and the town holds events like the Gypsum Daze festival. Housing in the area is expensive relative to state and national benchmarks, reflecting the broader resort‑region market, and the cost of renting or buying places a notable financial strain on many households.
The school enrolls a mid‑sized elementary population, with the largest grade being kindergarten and smaller fifth‑grade numbers. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a much smaller share of White students and trace representation from other racial groups. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced‑price lunch, indicating a high‑poverty school environment. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the size and shape of those programs and supports.
Gypsum Elementary participates in Colorado’s state testing program, the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, for students in grades three through five. In the most recent testing year, the share of students scoring at the proficient or above level was below one‑fifth in all three tested subjects – math, English language arts, and fifth‑grade science. These are low attainment rates, and the school’s overall proficiency is in a range that families should weigh carefully against their expectations. The school’s participation rate on all three assessments was very high, above the threshold that would raise concerns about which students were tested. No multi‑year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether performance is improving, declining, or stable over time.
Because Gypsum Elementary does not serve grades beyond fifth, there is no graduation rate to report, and data on chronic absenteeism, discipline incidents, staffing ratios, and course access were all absent from the available record. The district brief turned up no major recent changes or initiatives of lasting impact that would shape the school’s direction. The comparison tool that would position the school’s proficiency relative to other districts in Eagle County could not produce a result because the county contains only two districts, an insufficient cohort for a meaningful comparison.
For a family considering this school, the key takeaways are a deeply rooted, mountain‑community setting with an affordable‑housing squeeze; a high‑poverty, majority‑Hispanic student population; and academic results on state tests that are well below state and national norms. The school’s testing participation is strong, which suggests that nearly all enrolled students are included in the accountability system. There is no information here about gifted programs, arts, extracurricular offerings, or specialist staffing, so a parent would want to visit and ask about those directly. Gypsum Elementary fits a family that values a small‑town, outdoor‑oriented environment and is prepared to engage closely with the school on academic support for their child. Families placing a premium on high test‑score outcomes or seeking a range of enrichment programs may find that the school’s profile does not match those priorities without additional context from the school itself.
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