The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 17% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Stevens Elementary School
Stevens Elementary School serves preschool through fifth grade in Wheat Ridge, a suburban community immediately west of Denver. The school sits within Jefferson County School District No. R-1, a large district that has seen significant governance and planning changes in recent years. Voters in 2024 approved a substantial bond measure for capital improvements and safety upgrades across the district, the first such bond to pass in many years. At the same time, the district reversed a planned closure of multiple schools after community backlash and formed a committee to study enrollment and consolidation, and three school board members were recalled in a 2024 election motivated by concerns over transparency and consolidation plans. Families considering Stevens should be aware that the district is actively reexamining its school footprint, which could bring future boundary or program changes.
The student body at Stevens is diverse in composition. About half of the students are white, and a slightly smaller share are Hispanic, with small representations of students who are Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or of two or more races. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a population with significant economic need. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and operates as a neighborhood elementary. Data on the percentage of students with individualized education plans or who are English learners was not available in the information reviewed.
On state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, Stevens posted proficiency rates that were below the midpoint of what many families would expect. In math, just over one in six students scored at the proficient or above level. In English language arts, roughly one in four students met the proficient threshold. In science at the fifth-grade level, a little more than one in five students reached proficiency. These are results that many prospective parents will want to discuss with the school to understand the specific instructional approaches and supports in place. Because only one school in the county provided comparable proficiency data, the system could not produce a position comparison against other Jefferson County elementary schools, so there is no broader local benchmark available from this dataset.
The school itself is located in a residential stretch of Wheat Ridge. The city developed along transportation corridors rather than around a traditional downtown, so the built environment is largely mid-century suburban with commercial strips along arterial roads. Clear Creek runs through the city with a green zone of lakes, trails, and parks, providing some recreational walking infrastructure, but most residents commute by car. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to the national median, and while rents have eased slightly, the cost of buying a home remains elevated compared to incomes. A family considering Stevens will be weighing the school's academic results against a district that is in a period of financial and governance transition, and the broader community offers a well-established suburban setting with easy highway access to Denver.
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