Community Montessori School

Community Montessori School (CMS) is a public elementary school in Boulder, Colorado, serving 277 students in grades PK–6 as part of the Boulder Valley School District No. Re2. CMS holds a solid 4-star rating and ranks in the 72nd percentile among Colorado elementary schools, which means it performs above state averages—57% proficiency in English Language Arts and 52.3% in Math versus 44.7% and 37.3% statewide—but it trails its own district's averages of 65.3% and 56.1%.

The biggest differentiator between CMS and its neighbors is attendance. CMS's chronic absenteeism rate sits at 23.9%, nearly 1.4 times the district rate of 17.5% and roughly three times the rate at nearby schools like High Peaks Elementary School (8.5%) and Bear Creek Elementary School (9.5%). Academic proficiency also paints a mixed picture: 3rd-grade ELA and math scores at CMS (39.4% and 42.4%) are well below district averages (59.6% and 55.6%), yet by 4th grade students essentially catch up to district levels. CMS is surrounded by some of the top elementary schools in the state—Bear Creek ranks 5th, High Peaks 7th, and Eisenhower Elementary School 10th—so the 72nd-percentile ranking makes CMS an outlier in an otherwise exceptional cluster.

The good news? The Montessori model itself isn't the issue. Boulder Community School/Integrated Studies, another alternative program just 1.6 miles away, ranks in the 96th percentile with 80.5% ELA proficiency. CMS's challenges are more likely tied to attendance and early-grade support. The school's free/reduced lunch rate of 29.2% is higher than most affluent neighbors, and the student-teacher ratio has risen from 15.3 to 17.7 over three years. For parents, CMS offers a unique Montessori approach and a more economically diverse community than many surrounding schools, but it will need to address chronic absenteeism and early literacy and math skills to close the gap with the high-flyers in the neighborhood.