Hanover Elementary School

Prairie Heights Elementary School is a small PK–5 school in Fountain, CO, serving 130 students within the Hanover School District No. 28. The school currently holds a 2-star rating and ranks in the 33rd percentile of Colorado elementary schools, placing it in the lower third of schools statewide. Prairie Heights serves a student body facing significant economic challenges, with 68.5% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate considerably higher than the average of nearby schools. Chronic absenteeism is also a major concern, with 42.8% of students missing at least 10% of the academic year—a rate far exceeding the state average of 28.4%.

Academically, proficiency rates on state assessments are substantially below state averages, with the most recent data showing 18.4% proficiency in English Language Arts and 12.5% in math, compared to state rates of 44.7% and 35.9%, respectively. These scores are among the lowest in the immediate area. For example, nearby Jordahl Elementary School achieved 48.1% proficiency in ELA and 54.4% in math, while Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School posted scores of 55.3% and 52.2%. Even Talbott STEAM Innovation School, which has a similar poverty rate of 59.6%, outperformed Prairie Heights by roughly 30 points in ELA and 28 points in math. Science is a relative bright spot, with 27.8% proficiency in 5th-grade science, much closer to the state rate of 36.1%.

One of the most striking findings is the school’s dramatic performance swings over time. Prairie Heights was once a top-15% school in Colorado in 2011-12, but its ranking has since fallen to the lower third. The school’s performance closely mirrors its district, suggesting that improvement will require district-level support. Encouragingly, chronic absenteeism has improved from 54.1% to 42.8%, and this coincided with a temporary jump in ELA scores, though recent results indicate the gains are not yet stable. Nearby schools with comparable demographics demonstrate that high poverty does not have to mean low achievement, suggesting that focused strategies around attendance and academic intervention could make a meaningful difference for Prairie Heights students.