Slavens K-8 School

Slavens K-8 School in Denver, CO serves 762 students in kindergarten through 8th grade, and it is one of the highest-performing schools in the state, ranking 21st out of 943 Colorado schools (98th percentile) with a 5-star rating. This is especially notable because its own district, School District No. 1, ranks in the 38th percentile statewide — meaning Slavens functions as a high-performing island within a below-average district. The school has earned 5 stars every year since 2014-2015 and has been in the state's top 21 schools for six consecutive years.

Academically, Slavens posts results that are roughly double the state averages. In ELA, 84.3% of students are proficient compared with 44.7% statewide; in math, 80.8% are proficient versus 37.3% statewide. The school also outperforms nearby well-regarded schools: it beats Cherry Hills Village Elementary (a school in Cherry Creek School District No. 5 with even lower poverty rates) by nearly 9 points in ELA and 6 points in math. Only Creativity Challenge Community, a K-5 school with 306 students, edges out Slavens in state rank (19 vs. 21) — and Slavens achieves comparable or better results while serving more than twice the enrollment and two additional grade levels.

Slavens also stands out for attendance and middle-school performance. Its chronic absenteeism rate is 4.4% — the lowest among all nearby schools and roughly nine times lower than the district average of 38.1%. The school gets stronger in the upper grades: 7th-grade ELA proficiency is 93.3% and 8th-grade math is 93.6%. The areas to watch are the Gifted and Talented subgroup, which ranks at the 61st percentile (well below the school's overall 98th percentile), and 5th-grade science, where a few nearby elementary schools post higher scores. Still, even Slavens' weakest results remain far above state averages, making it a benchmark K-8 option in the Denver area.