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Nisley Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-5

805^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 950 Colorado Elementary Schools

Better than 15% of Colorado elementary schools

Summary

Nisley Elementary School is a public elementary school in Grand Junction, Colorado, serving 350 students from pre-kindergarten to 5th grade. The school is part of the Mesa County Valley School District No. 51, which is ranked 40 out of 115 school districts in Colorado and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Nisley Elementary School stands out for its consistently high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 27.7% to 47.2% over the past few years, significantly higher than the district and state averages. Academically, the school consistently performs below the district and state averages on CMAS assessments in English Language Arts, Math, and Science, with only 20% of Nisley students proficient or better in ELA in the 2024-2025 school year, compared to 43.1% for the district and 44.8% for the state. The school's performance is particularly low for male students and white students, ranking in the bottom 10-20% of Colorado elementary schools in these subgroups. Nisley Elementary also has a very high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 74.78% to 84.57% over the past few years, much higher than the district and state averages.

When comparing Nisley Elementary to other nearby schools within the same district, it becomes clear that the school is an outlier in terms of academic performance and student demographics. For example, Lincoln Orchard Mesa Elementary School, Pear Park Elementary School, and Tope Elementary School all significantly outperform Nisley on CMAS assessments and have lower chronic absenteeism rates. The school's performance data indicates that there is significant room for improvement, and targeted interventions, increased support for students and families, and a focus on improving attendance could be potential strategies to help Nisley Elementary make progress.

346

Students ?

16.4

Student/teacher ratio ?

$16,166

Per pupil spending ?

81.5%

Free/discounted lunch ?

543 28-3/4 Road
Grand Junction, CO 81501-7114

(970) 254-5900

District: Mesa County Valley School District No. 51

Students who attend Nisley Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	Bookcliff Middle School
High:	Central High School

Racial breakdown:

White:

53.5%

Hispanic:

38.7%

Two or more races:

4.0%

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At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 12th percentile in 2015 → 15th in 2025

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Colorado average (20% vs 40% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (15th percentile)

!High chronic absenteeism (44% vs 28% Colorado)

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school20%

District avg39%

Colorado avg40%

805^th of 950

Colorado public elementary schools ?

Bottom 15%▲ up 3 pts since 2015

From bottom 12% (2015) to bottom 15% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of Colorado Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

25^th of 26Elementary Schools in the Mesa County Valley School District No. 51

40^th of 115Mesa County Valley School District No. 51 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	15.0	805 of 950	15.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	10.1	879 of 943	6.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	14.0	828 of 933	11.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	14.8	800 of 921	13.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	9.9	696 of 710	2.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	13.0	869 of 965	9.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	15.1	790 of 917	13.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2017	11.3	859 of 929	7.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2016	14.2	811 of 914	11.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2015	14.5	826 of 938	11.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2014	18.8	799 of 962	16.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2013	32.8	679 of 954	28.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2012	29.1	697 of 935	25.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2011	16.4	806 of 935	13.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2010	18.0	777 of 925	16.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2009	21.1	709 of 872	18.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2008	26.5	663 of 849	21.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2007	29.1	648 of 852	23.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2006	35.7	577 of 829	30.4%	★★☆☆☆
2005	39.4	551 of 823	33.0%	★★☆☆☆
2004	53.1	412 of 808	49.0%	★★☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2025	27.9	484 of 694	30.3%	★★☆☆☆
2023	14.7	565 of 642	12.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	17.5	498 of 595	16.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	14.4	676 of 758	10.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	23.0	547 of 690	20.7%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2025	8.3	668 of 700	4.6%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	11.0	608 of 649	6.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	7.7	583 of 594	1.9%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	9.1	734 of 764	3.9%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	12.9	628 of 693	9.4%	☆☆☆☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Colorado percentile	Rating
2023	5.4	520 of 525	1.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	7.6	585 of 596	1.8%	☆☆☆☆☆

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)

Female (2025)30th percentile+15 vs school

Male (2025)5th percentile-11 vs school

White (2023)1st percentile-10 vs school

By subject vs Colorado (2024-2025) ?

Science23%-16 vs state

English Language Arts20%-25 vs state

Math20%-16 vs state

1.0

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What people are saying

by a parent
Tuesday, May 23, 2017

This is by far the worst Elementary school in the district. Had I known in advance how bad this school was, I NEVER would have enrolled my son here. My son has a diagnosis of ADHD/ODD. The staff did an extremely poor job dealing with him and his diagnosis. He spent almost the entire first half of the year in the office with noise cancelling head phones on, without ever notifying me. They also forgot to feed him lunch on more than one occasion. They took away all gym and recesses until I found out. They waited till the last minute to take away most field trips. He was singled out the entire year. Even when I knew my son was being honest about an incident, they still punished him. Most of the time I was not notified when he was disciplined. We all were told at the beginning of the school year that he had lost the privilege of going on the end of year camp trip due to his behavior. It took more than 3 years to convince the staff that he needed a 504 plan and they just kept shooting me down. This school and it's staff lost mine and my husbands respect in the second year of my son's attendance. If you have a child with special needs, I STRONGLY recommend you find a better school for your child. My son is also exceptionally smart, but because of his behavior, they refused to put him in any AP classes. Instead, they allowed him to become extremely bored, which only exasperated his behavior. They acted like they were listening to us parents, however, we felt like anything we said fell upon deaf ears. If I could grade this school, they would receive a BIG FAT F! Close Quote

Schools Near Nisley Elementary School

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 (2024)
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 8th 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 7th Grade	CMAS Math 8th Grade	CMAS Math All Grades	CMAS Science 5th Grade	CMAS Science 8th Grade	Total
Nisley Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	543 28-3/4 Road	Grand Junction	81501	Mesa County	Mesa County Valley School District No. 51	No	No	No	Yes	(970) 254-5900	346	21	16.4	81.5%	185 (53.5%)	4 (1.2%)	134 (38.7%)	3 (0.9%)	4 (1.2%)	2 (0.6%)	14 (4.0%)	15	805^th of 950 public elementary schools	15.3%		10.1	879^th of 943 public elementary schools	6.8%	74	22.2	12.5	22.9				20.0	25.5	12.5	18.8				19.7	22.9		$16,166
Orchard Avenue Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1800 Orchard Ave	Grand Junction	81501	Mesa County	Mesa County Valley School District No. 51	No	No	No	Yes	(970) 254-7560	319	22	14.3	60.5%	238 (74.6%)	1 (0.3%)	65 (20.4%)	4 (1.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.1%)	54.3	411^th of 950 public elementary schools	56.7%		50.9	440^th of 943 public elementary schools	53.3%	29	42.1	36.0	60.4				46.3	41.0	33.3	42.3				38.7	51.9		$16,850
Independence Academy	Public, Charter	PK, KG-8	675 29 Rd	Grand Junction	81504	Mesa County	Mesa County Valley School District No. 51	Yes	No	No	No	(970) 254-6850	491	28	17.2	87.6%	414 (84.3%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (12.2%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.4%)	54.2	413^th of 950 public elementary schools	56.5%		65.1	312^th of 943 public elementary schools	66.9%	101	47.2	36.0	56.9	49.1	59.6	44.7	49.2	49.1	12.0	49.0	29.1	33.3	31.9	34.2	56.9	42.6	$10,755
Fruitvale Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	585 30 Road	Grand Junction	81504	Mesa County	Mesa County Valley School District No. 51	No	No	No	Yes	(970) 254-5930	358	28	13.0	70.1%	223 (62.3%)	1 (0.3%)	118 (33.0%)	3 (0.8%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	9 (2.5%)	27.2	642^nd of 950 public elementary schools	32.4%		24.7	679^th of 943 public elementary schools	28.0%	37	27.8	42.3	36.5				35.4	21.4	25.9	29.4				25.5	17.6		$15,860
Pear Park Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	432 30 1/4 Road	Grand Junction	81504	Mesa County	Mesa County Valley School District No. 51	No	No	No	Yes	(970) 254-5960	428	29	15.0	70.8%	267 (62.4%)	1 (0.2%)	149 (34.8%)	2 (0.5%)	5 (1.2%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	28.4	631^st of 950 public elementary schools	33.6%		22.9	698^th of 943 public elementary schools	26.0%	67	35.3	32.3	35.8				34.5	35.8	26.9	26.5				29.7	13.2		$15,654
Chipeta Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	950 Chipeta Avenue	Grand Junction	81501	Mesa County	Mesa County Valley School District No. 51	No	No	No	Yes	(970) 254-6825	364	25	14.6	76.4%	193 (53.0%)	4 (1.1%)	147 (40.4%)	2 (0.5%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.1%)	44.5	493^rd of 950 public elementary schools	48.1%		34.4	564^th of 943 public elementary schools	40.2%	71	29.1	46.0	55.1				44.4	24.1	37.5	38.6				34.0	34.8		$16,633
Tope Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	2220 N 7th St	Grand Junction	81501	Mesa County	Mesa County Valley School District No. 51	No	No	No	Yes	(970) 254-7070	370	19	19.0	47.3%	252 (68.1%)	2 (0.5%)	91 (24.6%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	21 (5.7%)	59.7	362^nd of 950 public elementary schools	61.9%		60.5	361^st of 943 public elementary schools	61.7%	1	47.5	52.8	62.3				54.8	40.0	34.0	50.9				41.8	38.5		$14,601
Thunder Mountain Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	3063 F1/2 Road	Grand Junction	81504	Mesa County	Mesa County Valley School District No. 51	No	No	No	Yes	(970) 254-5870	432	27	16.2	54.4%	279 (64.6%)	5 (1.2%)	123 (28.5%)	9 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (3.5%)	27	643^rd of 950 public elementary schools	32.3%		18	768^th of 943 public elementary schools	18.6%	125	19.4	34.5	44.8				32.2	16.4	34.5	25.9				25.1	24.6		$15,156
Wildflower Montessori Public School of Colorado Grand Valley	Public, Charter	PK, KG-3	631 26 1/2 Road	Grand Junction	81506	Mesa County	State Charter School Institute	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(970) 314-7894	40	4	10.0	37.5%	33 (82.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.5%)	1 (2.5%)								(n/a)
Lincoln Orchard Mesa Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	2888 B1/2 Road	Grand Junction	81503	Mesa County	Mesa County Valley School District No. 51	No	No	No	Yes	(970) 254-7940	289	21	13.4	61.6%	201 (69.6%)	0 (0.0%)	79 (27.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	7 (2.4%)	35.9	563^rd of 950 public elementary schools	40.7%		43.3	493^rd of 943 public elementary schools	47.7%	70	35.1	32.6	44.4				38.0	24.3	39.1	34.5				33.3	25.5		$15,893

Frequently Asked Questions about Nisley Elementary School

What district is Nisley Elementary School in?

Mesa County Valley School District No. 51

What schools do graduates of Nisley Elementary School attend?

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

Middle : Bookcliff Middle School
High : Central High School

What is the racial makeup of Nisley Elementary School?

Students at Nisley Elementary School are 53% White, 39% Hispanic, 4% Two or more races, 1% African American, 1% American Indian.

Is Nisley Elementary School a good school?

Nisley Elementary School ranks in the bottom 15.3% of Colorado elementary schools.

How many students attend Nisley Elementary School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 346 students attended Nisley Elementary School.

Rate Nisley Elementary School!

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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.