The top reported proficiency rate is 91% in English language arts. The lowest is 88% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Dennison Elementary School
Dennison Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade in Lakewood, a large suburban city just west of Denver. The school is part of the Jefferson County School District R-1, a district that has seen significant recent change: voters approved a major bond measure for facility and technology improvements in 2024, the district adopted a new elementary literacy curriculum aligned with Colorado’s READ Act in 2023, and a contentious school board recall in 2024 replaced three members amid debates about transparency and school consolidation plans. Those district-level dynamics create an evolving context for families at any school in Jeffco, including Dennison.
The school itself is a regular public school—not a charter or magnet—with an enrollment in the mid-hundreds for its grade band. The student body is predominantly white, with a notable Asian population and a smaller Hispanic share as the next largest groups. A relatively small portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which suggests the school serves an area with above-average household resources relative to many other Colorado elementary schools.
On state assessments, Dennison’s students posted results that fall well above typical performance levels for Colorado elementary schools. In both math and English language arts across grades three through eight, the share of students scoring proficient or above was high, and participation rates were essentially universal, meaning the results reflect nearly the entire tested population. Science results, assessed at fifth grade, followed the same pattern. The data points to a school where the large majority of students are meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations in core subjects.
Those strong academic results sit alongside a community that is relatively expensive for Colorado. Housing values in the area are above the state median, and rents are similarly high. A family moving to the neighborhood should expect a substantial cost of housing, though the mortgage-versus-rent calculation in the current market tilts toward renting as the more immediately affordable option, with the gap between an estimated monthly mortgage and median rent being wide. The broader Lakewood economy is anchored by the Denver Federal Center, the county school district, healthcare, and corporate headquarters like FirstBank, providing a stable employment base.
Dennison serves only through sixth grade, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the school does not offer high-school-level programs like Advanced Placement or career pathways. For families seeking those opportunities, the transition to a Jeffco middle and high school would be the next step. Discipline data, staffing ratios, and chronic absenteeism figures were not available, so a parent may want to ask the school about those topics directly.
The school’s enrollment numbers show no sixth graders reported, which appears to be a data anomaly or a temporary condition rather than a reflection of the school’s stated grade band; the school is listed as serving kindergarten through grade six, and the other grades each have similar-sized classes. A parent considering Dennison for a sixth-grade year should confirm the current configuration with the school.
In terms of neighborhood character, the school sits in a part of Lakewood that reflects the city’s broader pattern: established residential subdivisions, a heavy reliance on driving for most errands, and nearby commercial corridors along major highways. The city’s most walkable node is the Belmar district, a redeveloped former mall site with shops, restaurants, and apartments, but that is a specific destination rather than the general street fabric. The light-rail W Line, which opened years ago, provides transit access to downtown Denver from multiple stations in Lakewood, but the city remains largely auto-oriented across its expanse.
For a family weighing Dennison, the academic picture is clearly strong by state standards, and the school is situated in a stable, high-cost suburban market with a large district undergoing active governance and facility investments. The main open questions for a parent would be about the aspects of school life that the available data does not cover, such as the quality of arts and enrichment, the experience of students who are not in the proficient majority, and how the school fits a particular child’s needs.
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