The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Science. The lowest is 57% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Shaffer Elementary School
Shaffer Elementary School sits within the Jefferson County School District No. R-1, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school. The school is located in Littleton, a suburban city that functions as the county seat of Arapahoe County and is fully integrated into the Denver metropolitan area. Littleton grew substantially during the mid-twentieth century, driven largely by aerospace employment at Martin Marietta, and today its economy is anchored by educational services, healthcare, professional services, and county government. The housing market in the school’s ZIP code reflects a high-cost area, with home values above the state median and rents that represent a significant share of typical household income. The school’s attendance boundary falls within Jefferson County rather than the Littleton Public Schools district, a detail that matters for families researching feeder patterns.
Shaffer Elementary enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a substantial share of Hispanic students and a smaller presence of students who identify as Asian or with two or more races. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating an economically mixed but largely middle- to upper-middle-income population. The school serves a sizable student body for an elementary, with enrollment spread fairly evenly from kindergarten through fifth grade and a smaller pre-kindergarten program.
On state assessments administered through the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, Shaffer Elementary’s students posted proficiency rates that land in a solid range. In both math and English language arts across grades three through five, a clear majority of students met or exceeded the state’s proficiency benchmarks. Science achievement, tested only in fifth grade, also reflected a majority of students scoring at proficient or advanced levels. Participation rates on these assessments were high, lending confidence to the results. The school’s performance positions it favorably among elementary schools in the region, though the comparison set within Jefferson County was too small to generate a formal proficiency index. Families will want to note that state testing data for the school’s youngest learners in pre-kindergarten through second grade does not exist, as those grades are not tested under Colorado’s current system.
The school itself operates as a standard neighborhood elementary under the Jefferson County R-1 district, which has seen significant recent shifts. In 2024, voters approved a substantial bond measure for capital improvements and technology upgrades—the first such bond in many years—so families can anticipate facility and technology investments across the district. The district also adopted a new elementary literacy curriculum in 2023 aligned with Colorado’s READ Act and the science of reading framework, a change that directly affects how reading is taught at Shaffer. More turbulently, the district proposed closing numerous schools in 2023 due to declining enrollment and budget pressures, then reversed that decision after community opposition. A consolidation committee is now studying enrollment and capacity, and voters recalled three school board members in 2024 over transparency concerns related to this process. The governance landscape remains unsettled, and families should be aware that discussions about school closures or boundary adjustments may continue.
For a school of its grade band, Shaffer Elementary does not produce a graduation rate or data on chronic absenteeism, as neither measure applies to an elementary school. Information on special education and English learner populations was not available in the data, nor were discipline figures or staffing ratios. A parent who wants to understand how the school serves students with individualized education plans or English language needs would need to ask the school directly. The same is true for course access and extracurricular offerings, which for an elementary school of this size typically include art, music, physical education, and enrichment but were not detailed here.
Shaffer Elementary presents as a well-regarded neighborhood school in a high-cost suburban area, drawing from a community with a strong employment base and a mix of historic downtown and suburban residential fabric. Its academic results are solid across tested subjects, and the surrounding district is in a period of change, with new funding, a refreshed literacy curriculum, and ongoing questions about how to align school capacity with enrollment. For a family considering this school, the academic picture is clear and positive, while the district-level uncertainty around consolidation and board direction warrants attention.
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