The top reported proficiency rate is 85% in Math. The lowest is 75% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Colter Elementary
Colter Elementary sits on High School Road in Jackson, Wyoming, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of Teton County School District #1. It is a conventional public elementary school, not a charter or magnet, and its enrollment places it in the mid-range for an elementary serving this grade band. The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population that represents roughly one-fifth of the school. A comparatively small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which reflects the broader economics of Teton County more than any deliberate admissions filter. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those profiles are a gap a parent may want to ask the school about directly.
On the most recent WY-TOPP assessments, Colter's results stand out as genuinely strong. Math proficiency is high across the tested grades, with the third-grade cohort performing especially well and fourth grade close behind. Fifth-grade math proficiency dips somewhat, which is a common pattern as content demands increase, but it remains solidly above what most elementary schools in the state post. English language arts results are also strong, with fourth grade the brightest spot and the surrounding grades showing well more than two-thirds of tested students reaching proficiency. Science, tested only in fourth grade, lands at a healthy level. Participation rates are at or near full across every tested grade and subject, which gives these results real weight. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from the provided data whether performance is rising, flat, or softening over time. A parent who wants a longer view should ask the school for its trend reports.
Because Colter serves only kindergarten through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The neighbor comparison set, which would position Colter among districts in Teton County, could not produce a proficiency index or graduation comparison because the county has too few districts with reported data to form a meaningful cohort. That gap reflects the small size of the county's district landscape, not anything about the school itself.
Jackson is a small resort town that functions as the commercial and civic hub of Teton County and as a gateway to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. The economy runs on tourism, skiing, lodging, and outdoor recreation. Publicly reported sources describe a compact, walkable downtown centered on Town Square, with residential neighborhoods fanning out from there and a pathway network supporting biking and walking. Most of the land in Teton County is federally or state managed, leaving very little for private development. That constraint has driven housing costs to extraordinary levels. Home values in the school's zip code sit far above both the Wyoming and national benchmarks, and rents run high enough that a household would need to commit a large majority of its income to rent alone. The price-to-income ratio is among the most extreme in the country.
That housing pressure reaches into the schools. Teton County School District #1 has lost a substantial portion of its workforce in recent years to the local housing crisis, and in November 2024 voters approved a housing bond to fund workforce housing for district employees on district-owned land, to be repaid through property taxes over a multi-year period. The stated aim is to stabilize teacher retention, which directly affects classroom continuity. This is the context Colter operates in: a school with strong academic results and a community willing to tax itself to keep educators in place, set against a housing market that makes living nearby difficult for many families and staff alike.
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