Elementary Schools in Dolores County School District Re-2j

Dolores County School District Re-2j is home to a single elementary school, Dove Creek Elementary School, serving grades PK–5 in the rural community of Dove Creek, Colorado. With 124 students, the school operates with a student-teacher ratio of 13.5, and more than half of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Because only one elementary school exists in the district, there are no direct school-to-school comparisons; instead, the focus is on how the school measures up against state averages and its own past performance.

Dove Creek Elementary School is currently rated 1 star for the 2025–2026 school year, down from 2 stars the previous year, and its statewide rank fell sharply from 630th (34th percentile) to 804th (15th percentile). Academic proficiency remains far below state averages in every tested area: just 15.6% of students are proficient in English Language Arts compared to 44.7% statewide, and 5th grade math and science proficiency are also significantly lower. The school’s ELA gap of nearly 30 percentage points is especially concerning and points to literacy as a major challenge. This decline is notable because the school had remained near the 34th percentile for over a decade before the recent drop.

Chronic absenteeism is another red flag, with 31.3% of students missing enough school to be considered chronically absent—higher than both the district average (22.9%) and the state average (28.4%). The combination of high poverty, as indicated by the 54% free/reduced lunch rate, along with low test scores and rising absenteeism, creates a difficult environment for student success. While the school’s small class size of 13.5 students per teacher is a positive factor, it has not been enough to overcome these challenges. For parents considering this area, it is important to understand that Dove Creek Elementary School is facing significant academic and attendance issues, and the district overall ranks near the bottom of Colorado. Addressing absenteeism and literacy instruction will be critical to reversing the current downward trend.