Salida del Sol Academy

Salida del Sol Academy is a K–8 school in Greeley School District No. 6 serving 654 students in a high-poverty area of Greeley, Colorado, where roughly 81% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and the student-teacher ratio is about 17:1. The school has consistently ranked near the bottom of Colorado elementary schools, placing in the 4th percentile statewide (907 out of 943) for the 2025–2026 school year, a pattern of very low performance that has persisted for most of the past decade.

Academically, Salida del Sol's test scores are well below district and state averages. On 2025–2026 CMAS assessments, 18.9% of students were proficient in English Language Arts and 13.5% in Math, compared to district averages of 28.1% and 20.7% and state averages of 44.7% and 37.3%. Several nearby schools perform better despite similar demographics — for example, Martinez Elementary School has nearly the same poverty rate (80.4%) but posted 24.2% ELA and 22.2% Math proficiency, while Chappelow K-8 Magnet School reached 33.0% ELA and 23.4% Math. The school's youngest students face the biggest gaps: only 9.3% of 3rd graders were proficient in ELA and just 6.5% in Math, the lowest 3rd grade math figure among nearby schools.

There is one notable bright spot: Salida del Sol's 8th graders outperformed all other K–8 schools in the area, posting 32.4% ELA, 25.0% Math, and 25.0% Science proficiency — exceeding district averages in ELA and science. Chronic absenteeism affects 33.4% of students, nearly identical to the district average of 34.6% but above the state's 28.4%, with several neighboring elementary schools reporting similarly high rates. While poverty and attendance challenges are significant, the school's success in 8th grade suggests that middle-school instruction may be helping close some of the deep gaps formed in early elementary years, and replicating that success in grades K–3 could be the key to improving the school's overall trajectory.