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Cowell Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-5

939^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 946 Colorado Elementary Schools

Better than 1% of Colorado elementary schools

Summary

Cowell Elementary School is a PK–5 elementary school in Denver's School District No. 1 that enrolls 308 students and serves one of the most economically challenged populations in the area, with 91.6% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school currently holds a 1st-percentile state ranking (936 out of 943 Colorado elementary schools), which places it among the lowest-performing schools in the state. Its student-teacher ratio of 14.1 is actually more favorable than many nearby schools, yet academic outcomes remain dramatically below district and state averages.

Academic proficiency at Cowell Elementary School is severely below average across all subjects. Only 11.4% of students are proficient in English Language Arts, 5.9% in math, and 8.1% in 5th-grade science, compared with district averages of 42.5%, 35.0%, and 33.2%, respectively. This performance is weaker than every nearby Denver public school, including other high-poverty schools: Knapp Elementary School (ELA 15.8%, math 7.1%), Eagleton Elementary School (ELA 14.9%, math 9.0%), and Cheltenham Elementary School (ELA 14.0%, math 8.6%) all outperform Cowell despite serving similar student populations. In fact, only Lumberg Elementary School in Jefferson County School District No. R-1 ranks lower statewide.

Chronic absenteeism is the most pressing challenge at Cowell Elementary School. More than half of its students (56.5%) were chronically absent in 2024–2025—the highest rate among all nearby schools and a sharp jump from 41.7% the prior year. By contrast, Brown International Academy, just 1.6 miles away in the same district, has a 75th-percentile ranking, ELA proficiency of 60.9%, math proficiency of 54.0%, and a 26.1% chronic absenteeism rate. The school's decline is also notable: it ranked in the 29th percentile in 2018–2019 before dropping to its current 1st-percentile position. Addressing attendance and providing targeted academic supports will be essential to reversing this trajectory.

308

Students ?

14.1

Student/teacher ratio ?

$20,220

Per pupil spending ?

91.6%

Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?

All students in Colorado receive free school meals.

92.6%

Kindergartners fully immunized against measles (MMR) (2025-26)

Exemptions: 1.9% (MMR)

4540 West 10th Avenue
Denver, CO 80204-2913

(720) 424-8300

District: School District No. 1

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

90.3%

White:

3.6%

African American:

2.3%

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Compare Cowell Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 3rd percentile in 2010 → 1st in 2026

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Colorado average (8% vs 41% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (1st percentile)

!High chronic absenteeism (52% vs 28% Colorado)

Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?

This school8%

District avg38%

Colorado avg41%

939^th of 946

Colorado public elementary schools ?

Bottom 1%▼ down 7 pts since 2016

From bottom 8% (2016) to bottom 1% (2026)

See the entire ranking list of Colorado Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

97^th of 99Elementary Schools in the School District No. 1

69^th of 114School District No. 1 among Colorado districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2026	5.8	939 of 946	0.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	27.2	688 of 965	28.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2017	18.5	758 of 929	18.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2016	12.0	844 of 914	7.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2015	10.7	894 of 938	4.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2014	6.0	945 of 962	1.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2013	9.7	876 of 954	8.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2012	9.2	864 of 935	7.6%	☆☆☆☆☆
2011	7.6	875 of 935	6.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2010	4.8	895 of 925	3.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2009	4.4	839 of 872	3.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2008	2.0	841 of 849	0.9%	☆☆☆☆☆
2007	2.1	846 of 852	0.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2006	3.7	807 of 829	2.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2005	3.4	802 of 823	2.6%	☆☆☆☆☆
2004	2.1	797 of 808	1.4%	☆☆☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2019	23.0	581 of 758	23.4%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2019	32.2	497 of 764	34.9%	★★☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Male (2019)35th percentile+6 vs school

Female (2019)23rd percentile-5 vs school

By subject vs Colorado (2025-2026) ?

English Language Arts11%-33 vs state

Science8%-28 vs state

Math6%-31 vs state

★

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Schools Near Cowell Elementary School

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Vaccination Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				CMAS English Language Arts (2026)					CMAS Math (2026)					CMAS Science (2026)	Vaccination (2025-26)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CMAS English Language Arts 3rd Grade	CMAS English Language Arts 4th Grade	CMAS English Language Arts 5th Grade	CMAS English Language Arts 6th Grade	CMAS English Language Arts All Grades	CMAS Math 3rd Grade	CMAS Math 4th Grade	CMAS Math 5th Grade	CMAS Math 6th Grade	CMAS Math All Grades	CMAS Science 5th Grade	Vaccination: Kindergartners fully immunized against measles (MMR)	Vaccination: Exemption rate	Total
Cowell Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	4540 West 10th Avenue	Denver	80204	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-8300	308	22	14.1	91.6%	11 (3.6%)	7 (2.3%)	278 (90.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.9%)	2 (0.6%)	4 (1.3%)	5.8	939^th of 946 public elementary schools	0.7%					(n/a)		716.0	13.5		11.4	706.0	7.7	707.0		5.9	8.1	92.6%	1.9%	$20,220
Colfax Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1526 Tennyson Street	Denver	80204	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-8740	280	19	14.4	89.3%	29 (10.4%)	31 (11.1%)	203 (72.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.6%)	19.2	752^nd of 946 public elementary schools	20.5%		16.8	781^st of 950 public elementary schools	17.8%	29	40.9	30.0	31.0		33.3	29.4	6.3	13.8		15.3	712.0	85.1%	0%	$21,235
Newlon Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	361 Vrain Street	Denver	80219	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-5150	293	23	12.6	92.5%	13 (4.4%)	5 (1.7%)	265 (90.4%)	3 (1.0%)	4 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	21.2	726^th of 946 public elementary schools	23.3%		14.4	816^th of 950 public elementary schools	14.1%	90	21.7	26.3	37.5		30.5	715.0	713.0	25.0		15.5	17.5	81.4%	0%	$20,049
Eagleton Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	880 N Hooker Street	Denver	80204	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-7930	317	26	12.2	87.1%	31 (9.8%)	18 (5.7%)	260 (82.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.6%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	7.1	923^rd of 946 public elementary schools	2.4%		9	907^th of 950 public elementary schools	4.5%	16	712.0	722.0	19.4		14.9	9.1	8.3	9.7		9.0	12.9	92.7%	0%	$23,225
Cheltenham Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1580 Julian Street	Denver	80204	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-8810	373	34	11.0	85.3%	23 (6.2%)	86 (23.1%)	234 (62.7%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.6%)	10 (2.7%)	13 (3.5%)	6.6	929^th of 946 public elementary schools	1.8%		5.4	943^rd of 950 public elementary schools	0.7%	14	15.0	12.7	14.9		14.0	8.2	7.5	10.6		8.6	13.6	98%	2%	$24,285
Barnum Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	85 Hooker Street	Denver	80219	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-9590	334	21	15.6	88.6%	14 (4.2%)	12 (3.6%)	302 (90.4%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	13.9	830^th of 946 public elementary schools	12.3%		14.7	812^th of 950 public elementary schools	14.5%	18	701.0	737.0	25.0		24.4	17.8	21.7	18.2		19.3	14.3	93%	2.3%	$19,834
Edgewater Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	5570 West 24th Avenue	Edgewater	80214	Jefferson County	Jefferson County School District No. R-1	No	No	No	Yes	(303) 982-6050	335	22	15.4	63.9%	54 (16.1%)	5 (1.5%)	255 (76.1%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.9%)	16 (4.8%)	15.6	804^th of 946 public elementary schools	15.0%		21.2	721^st of 950 public elementary schools	24.1%	83	28.6	30.8	24.3	25.0	26.7	20.0	17.1	8.1	16.7	15.6	16.7	97.6%	0%	$18,927
Brown International Academy	Public	PK, KG-5	2550 Lowell Blvd	Denver	80211	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	No	(720) 424-9250	530	31	17.1	31.3%	325 (61.3%)	23 (4.3%)	129 (24.3%)	10 (1.9%)	3 (0.6%)	9 (1.7%)	31 (5.8%)	72.3	239^th of 946 public elementary schools	74.7%		77.4	208^th of 950 public elementary schools	78.1%	31	59.2	64.4	59.1		60.9	51.3	68.5	40.9		54.0	39.4	92%	0%	$17,382
Knapp Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	500 South Utica Street	Denver	80219	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-6130	351	21	16.9	91.2%	15 (4.3%)	8 (2.3%)	323 (92.0%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	7.6	918^th of 946 public elementary schools	3.0%		18.1	765^th of 950 public elementary schools	19.5%	153	15.0	17.4	14.9		15.8	704.0	14.0	710.0		7.1	6.4	100%	0%	$20,999
KIPP Sunshine Peak Elementary	Public, Charter	PK, KG-4	3400 West Nevada Place	Denver	80219	Denver County	School District No. 1	Yes	No	No	Yes	(303) 934-3245	146	13	10.8	89.0%	7 (4.8%)	3 (2.1%)	133 (91.1%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)								(n/a)					25.9	726.0	714.0			720.0		96.7%	3.3%	$25,510

Frequently Asked Questions about Cowell Elementary School

Is Cowell Elementary School a good school?

Cowell Elementary School ranks in the bottom 0.7% of Colorado elementary schools.

What district is Cowell Elementary School in?

School District No. 1

What schools do graduates of Cowell Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Cowell Elementary School usually go on to attend:

Middle : Lake Middle School
High : North High School

How many students attend Cowell Elementary School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 308 students attended Cowell Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Cowell Elementary School?

Students at Cowell Elementary School are 90% Hispanic, 4% White, 2% African American, 2% American Indian, 1% Two or more races.

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Latest Colorado data All new data »

2017–18 through 2025–26 immunization rates (updated)NewOct 19, 2026

2025–26 attendance dataOct 6, 2026

2025–26 CMAS, PSAT10, PSAT9 & SAT test scoresAug 19, 2026

2024–25 school spending dataJun 13, 2026

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Colorado Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.