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Downtown Denver Expeditionary School

Q: Is Downtown Denver Expeditionary School a good school?

Downtown Denver Expeditionary School ranks 451 st of 950 Colorado elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

Public, Charter Grades K-5

451^st

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 950 Colorado Elementary Schools

Better than 53% of Colorado elementary schools

Summary

Downtown Denver Expeditionary School is a public charter elementary school serving 243 students in grades K-5 in Denver, Colorado. The school is part of the School District No. 1, which is ranked 76 out of 115 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

While the school has maintained a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger, its academic performance, as measured by CMAS assessments, is generally below the district and state averages in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Math. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, the school's proficiency rates were 41.7% in ELA and 46.5% in Math, compared to 41.9% and 32.9% for the district, and 44.8% and 35.9% for the state, respectively. The school also faces challenges with high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 27.7% to 37.1% over the past few years, which are significantly higher than the district and state averages.

Compared to nearby schools, Downtown Denver Expeditionary School generally performs better than some, such as Wyatt Academy and Center for Talent Development at Greenlee, but lags behind higher-performing schools like Polaris Elementary School, which is ranked 1st in the state. Additionally, the school has seen an increase in the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, from 26.64% in 2021-2022 to 36.21% in 2023-2024, indicating a growing population of economically disadvantaged students.

263

Students ?

15.2

Student/teacher ratio ?

$16,918

Per pupil spending ?

34.2%

Free/discounted lunch ?

1860 Lincoln St
Denver, CO 80203

(720) 424-2350

District: School District No. 1

Racial breakdown:

White:

51.0%

Hispanic:

29.7%

Two or more races:

9.9%

See top rated Colorado elementary schools

Compare Downtown Denver Expeditionary School to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 55th percentile in 2016 → 53rd in 2025

Strengths

✓Above the Colorado median (53rd percentile)

Worth a look

!Science scores 21 pts below the Colorado average

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school40%

District avg37%

Colorado avg40%

451^st of 950

Colorado public elementary schools ?

Top 47%▼ down 2 pts since 2016

See the entire ranking list of Colorado Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

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

76^th of 115School 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
2025	48.6	451 of 950	52.5%	★★★☆☆
2024	47.6	471 of 943	50.1%	★★★☆☆
2023	47.4	462 of 933	50.5%	★★★☆☆
2022	51.2	421 of 921	54.3%	★★★☆☆
2019	59.4	371 of 965	61.6%	★★★☆☆
2018	62.6	304 of 917	66.8%	★★★☆☆
2017	60.7	316 of 929	66.0%	★★★☆☆
2016	50.1	413 of 914	54.8%	★★★☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2024	46.7	342 of 684	50.0%	★★★☆☆
2019	51.8	336 of 758	55.7%	★★★☆☆
2018	50.6	309 of 690	55.2%	★★★☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2019	48.7	119 of 270	55.9%	★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2018	67.5	65 of 308	78.9%	★★★★☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2024	35.8	418 of 683	38.8%	★★☆☆☆
2019	54.0	319 of 764	58.2%	★★★☆☆
2018	57.9	249 of 693	64.1%	★★★☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2024	38.3	350 of 539	35.1%	★★☆☆☆
2023	41.2	319 of 525	39.2%	★★☆☆☆
2022	47.4	251 of 454	44.7%	★★☆☆☆
2019	71.5	138 of 596	76.8%	★★★★☆
2018	70.7	87 of 337	74.2%	★★★★☆

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)

Low Socio Economic Status (2018)79th percentile+12 vs school

Hispanic (2019)56th percentile-6 vs school

Female (2024)50th percentile~ school

Male (2024)39th percentile-11 vs school

White (2024)35th percentile-15 vs school

By subject vs Colorado (2024-2025) ?

Math46%+11 vs state

English Language Arts42%-3 vs state

Science18%-21 vs state

5.0

1 rating · 1 written review

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What people are saying

by a parent
Wednesday, January 12, 2022

We could not be more thrilled with our experience at DDES. The level of care, support, and love that is poured into the kids is more than we could ask for. The emphasis on growth-oriented skills and mindsets, the positive environment, teaching the kids to support each other, the adventures and fieldwork, the encouragement to tackle and work through challenges... all of it has resulted in our 1st grader loving school and the friends she’s making, and feeling proud of herself for working hard and learning new things. We are so happy and grateful we landed at DDES! Close Quote

Schools Near Downtown Denver Expeditionary 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 Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CMAS English Language Arts (2025)						CMAS Math (2025)					CMAS Science (2025)	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/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	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 7th Grade	CMAS English Language Arts All Grades	CMAS Math 3rd Grade	CMAS Math 4th Grade	CMAS Math 5th Grade	CMAS Math 7th Grade	CMAS Math All Grades	CMAS Science 5th Grade	Total
Downtown Denver Expeditionary School	Public, Charter	K-5	1860 Lincoln St	Denver	80203	Denver County	School District No. 1	Yes	No	No	No	(720) 424-2350	263	17	15.2	34.2%	134 (51.0%)	19 (7.2%)	78 (29.7%)	4 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	26 (9.9%)	48.6	451^st of 950 public elementary schools	52.5%		47.6	471^st of 943 public elementary schools	50.1%	20	40.0	45.7	38.5			41.7	51.7	47.8	41.0		46.5	17.9	$16,918
Polaris Elementary School	Public	1-5	410 Park Avenue West	Denver	80205	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	No	(720) 424-7860	350	18	19.6	17.4%	198 (56.6%)	15 (4.3%)	49 (14.0%)	34 (9.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (15.4%)	99.3	1^st of 950 public elementary schools	99.9%		99.6	1^st of 943 public elementary schools	99.9%		90.8	94.9	96.2			94.0	84.4	97.4	95.1		92.4	95.0	$16,759
University Prep - Arapahoe St.	Public, Charter	K-5	2409 Arapahoe Street	Denver	80205	Denver County	School District No. 1	Yes	No	No	Yes	(303) 292-0463	313	27	11.7	89.8%	15 (4.8%)	155 (49.5%)	124 (39.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	3 (1.0%)	12 (3.8%)	13.8	822^nd of 950 public elementary schools	13.5%		11.4	862^nd of 943 public elementary schools	8.6%	40	12.1	16.7	22.4			16.8	16.9	31.6	16.7		20.7		$18,826
Whittier Ece-8 School	Public	PK, KG-8	2480 Downing Street	Denver	80205	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-3040	242	17	14.2	88.4%	13 (5.4%)	122 (50.4%)	72 (29.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)	3 (1.2%)	29 (12.0%)	8.3	915^th of 950 public elementary schools	3.7%					(n/a)	15.4		15.4		47.8	17.6		12.5		13.0	7.0		$21,737
Center for Talent Development at Greenlee	Public	PK, KG-5	1150 Lipan Street	Denver	80204	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-6800	244	18	13.2	88.1%	23 (9.4%)	71 (29.1%)	128 (52.5%)	6 (2.5%)	3 (1.2%)	4 (1.6%)	9 (3.7%)	13.6	826^th of 950 public elementary schools	13.1%		15	807^th of 943 public elementary schools	14.4%	19	19.0					12.0	23.3	13.3	17.1		18.5	16.7	$21,744
Dora Moore Ece-8 School	Public	PK, KG-8	846 Corona Street	Denver	80218	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-5300	349	21	16.5	65.3%	108 (30.9%)	55 (15.8%)	135 (38.7%)	4 (1.1%)	4 (1.1%)	4 (1.1%)	38 (10.9%)	21	724^th of 950 public elementary schools	23.8%		25.6	670^th of 943 public elementary schools	29.0%	54	18.9	19.4	39.4	25.0		30.6	19.4	11.4	27.3		17.0	36.7	$18,380
Cole Arts and Science Academy	Public	PK, KG-5	1350 E 33rd Ave	Denver	80205	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 423-9120	275	21	13.0	83.6%	29 (10.5%)	41 (14.9%)	189 (68.7%)	3 (1.1%)	2 (0.7%)	2 (0.7%)	9 (3.3%)								(n/a)			20.9			13.6					7.9	9.3	$23,197
French American School of Denver	Public, Charter	K-6	2350 N. Gaylord Street	Denver	80205	Denver County	School District No. 1	Yes	No	No	No	(720) 506-4589	230	18	12.7	20.0%	163 (70.9%)	19 (8.3%)	22 (9.6%)	4 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (9.6%)	81.4	159^th of 950 public elementary schools	83.3%		82.2	149^th of 943 public elementary schools	84.2%	10	48.8		61.9			54.7	73.2	60.9			68.4	66.7	$11,986
Columbine Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	2540 East 29th Ave	Denver	80205	Denver County	School District No. 1	No	No	No	Yes	(720) 424-8510	346	25	14.0	42.2%	157 (45.4%)	62 (17.9%)	85 (24.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.0%)	33 (9.5%)	48.2	459^th of 950 public elementary schools	51.7%		19.2	750^th of 943 public elementary schools	20.5%	291	48.9	28.0	51.6			44.6	42.2	12.0	39.3		33.7	46.4	$19,233
Wyatt Academy	Public, Charter	K-5	3620 Franklin Street	Denver	80205	Denver County	School District No. 1	Yes	No	No	Yes	(303) 292-5515	240	18	13.6	81.3%	22 (9.2%)	43 (17.9%)	166 (69.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	7 (2.9%)	21.8	714^th of 950 public elementary schools	24.8%					(n/a)	24.3	18.8	14.3			20.0	13.6	35.3	39.1		26.7		$15,338

Frequently Asked Questions about Downtown Denver Expeditionary School

Is Downtown Denver Expeditionary School a good school?

Downtown Denver Expeditionary School ranks 451^st of 950 Colorado elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

What is the racial makeup of Downtown Denver Expeditionary School?

Students at Downtown Denver Expeditionary School are 51% White, 30% Hispanic, 10% Two or more races, 7% African American, 2% Asian.

What district is Downtown Denver Expeditionary School in?

School District No. 1

How many students attend Downtown Denver Expeditionary School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 263 students attended Downtown Denver Expeditionary School.

Rate Downtown Denver Expeditionary School!

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Latest Colorado data All new data »

2024–25 school spending dataJun 13, 2026

2024–25 dropout rates & graduation ratesJan 13, 2026

2024–25 attendance dataAug 27, 2025

2024–25 CMAS, PSAT10, PSAT9 & SAT test scoresAug 21, 2025

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.