Vaughn Elementary School

Vaughn Elementary School is a PK-5 school in Aurora, CO, serving 446 students and belongs to Aurora Joint District No. 28, a district ranked in the bottom 10% of Colorado. The school has consistently ranked near the very bottom of all Colorado elementary schools, placing in the 1st percentile most recently. It serves a very high-poverty population, with 91.7% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

Academically, Vaughn’s proficiency rates are far below district and state averages in every subject. Only 13.7% of students are proficient in English Language Arts, 6.2% in math, and 5.1% in science. Math is the most urgent crisis, with roughly 9 out of 10 students not meeting grade-level expectations. A nearby school, Elkhart Elementary School, has even higher poverty (98.3%) but achieves dramatically better results: 25.9% ELA proficiency and 26.2% math proficiency, along with much lower chronic absenteeism. On the other end of the spectrum, Isabella Bird Community School, just 1.79 miles away in School District No. 1, posts 61.5% ELA and 54.8% math proficiency with far lower poverty.

Chronic absenteeism is a serious concern, affecting 43.2% of Vaughn students, which is higher than the state rate and has worsened recently. The student-teacher ratio also rose to 17.8, higher than several comparable nearby schools. On a positive note, ELA proficiency improved from 8.5% to 13.7% in one year, and Vaughn outperforms a few neighboring schools like Altura Elementary School and Del Mar Academy in some subjects. Still, the overall picture remains extremely challenging. The most promising levers for improvement are likely increasing attendance, stabilizing class sizes, and implementing intensive math intervention, as nearby Elkhart shows that high poverty does not have to mean low achievement.