The top reported proficiency rate is 22% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Carmel Community School
Carmel Community School is a regular public school in Colorado Springs serving kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of Harrison School District No. 2, one of the many districts that serve the large, sprawling city at the base of Pikes Peak. Colorado Springs itself is a car-dependent city shaped by its major military installations—Fort Carson, Peterson Space Force Base, Schriever Space Force Base, and the U.S. Air Force Academy—alongside a substantial aerospace and defense sector, tourism, and extensive residential development. The city has seen steady growth over the past several decades and continues to expand outward across its vast land area.
The school itself enrolls a large student body for a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade campus. The student composition is diverse. Hispanic students make up about half of the enrollment, Black students a substantial share, White students a smaller share, and students identifying as two or more races a modest share. A very large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that the community the school serves faces significant economic need. Data on students with Individualized Education Programs and English learners were not available in the records reviewed, so a full picture of special population support is not possible to draw from this data alone.
State testing results for the 2024-25 school year show that overall proficiency across math, English language arts, and science places the school in the bottom quartile among schools in El Paso County districts. In math, roughly one in ten students scored at or above the proficient level. In English language arts, roughly one in five students did. In science, the pattern was similar at both the fifth-grade and eighth-grade levels, with about one in five fifth-graders and a smaller share of eighth-graders scoring proficient or above. These are low attainment figures, and a parent may want to ask the school about its academic improvement plans and what supports are in place to move these numbers.
Because Carmel Community School serves only through eighth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report. The data also did not include information on course access, staffing ratios, chronic absenteeism, or discipline. These are useful indicators of school environment and student support that are simply not part of the available record for this school.
The most significant development at the district level is a new promise program. In late 2024, voters in Harrison School District 2 approved a mill levy that funds the D2 Promise Program, which covers tuition and fees at Pikes Peak State College for all qualifying district high school graduates. That program will be relevant to families who plan to remain in the district through high school, though it does not directly affect Carmel’s current grade span.
Housing in the school’s ZIP code has a typical value near the national average and well below the Colorado state benchmark. Rents are also roughly in line with what a typical household in the area could afford, though the local cost of living should be considered in full context. The broader Colorado Springs housing market has seen prices ease slightly in recent months, following years of growth.
Overall, Carmel Community School is a large K-8 school in Colorado Springs serving a predominantly low-income and diverse student population, with state test scores that place it among the lower-performing schools in the county. The district has recently invested in a college-tuition promise for its high school graduates. For a family considering this school, the low academic proficiency rates are the central fact to investigate further with the school itself.
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