The top reported proficiency rate is 32% in English language arts. The lowest is 23% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Pomona Elementary School
Pomona Elementary School in Montrose, Colorado, serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade. Operated by the Montrose County School District Re-1J, it is a regular public school with an enrollment that makes it a mid-sized elementary for the area.
The largest group of students is White, followed by a substantial Hispanic population. A very large share of students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that places the school in a high-poverty category. This economic context is a defining characteristic of the school's student body.
On state assessments, overall proficiency across math and English language arts is modest. In math, about a quarter of students scored at proficient levels. In English language arts, roughly three in ten students scored proficient. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, as these results indicate that a majority of students are not meeting the state's academic benchmarks. Science results for fifth graders were suppressed, so a full picture of that subject is not available.
When compared to other elementary schools within the same county, Pomona's combined proficiency rate across tested subjects places it in the top tier. This means that while the raw percentages are modest, the school performs relatively well against its local peers.
The school is situated in Montrose, a growing city that serves as the economic and transportation hub for western Colorado. The community has a mix of historic downtown and suburban-style corridors, and it is known for its outdoor recreation manufacturing and relative housing affordability compared to the rest of the state. The district is in the midst of two major structural changes. It is transitioning to a Mastery Learning system, replacing traditional grading with proficiency-based assessments, with full adoption targeted for the 2027-2028 school year. The district has also partnered with an outside organization to overhaul its intervention systems and reduce over-identification for special education, a shift that will affect how struggling students are identified and supported.
For a family considering Pomona Elementary, the most salient facts are the school's high concentration of students from low-income households and the below-average state test results. The school performs better than some others in the county, but the proficiency rates themselves are low. The district's move to mastery-based grading and its overhaul of support systems are ongoing changes that could meaningfully alter how student progress is measured and how extra help is delivered in the coming years.
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