Sunset Elementary School

Sunset Elementary School is a K-5 school in Craig, Colorado, a small community in the northwestern part of the state, serving 261 students as part of the Moffat County School District RE: No. 1. The school holds a 2-star SchoolDigger rating and currently ranks 501st out of 943 Colorado elementary schools, placing it in the middle of the state. Nearly 58% of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Sunset's academic profile shows clear strengths in English language arts and science. In 2025-26, 45.9% of students were proficient in ELA — slightly above the state average — and 5th-grade science proficiency reached 46.2%, well above the state's 36.1%. Math is the clear weak spot: just 25.4% of students were proficient, compared to 37.3% statewide, with the lowest scores coming in 3rd and 4th grades. A comparison with nearby Ridgeview Elementary is striking: both schools have nearly identical ELA scores, but Ridgeview's math proficiency is double Sunset's (50.0% vs. 25.4%), while Sunset's science results are more than double Ridgeview's (46.2% vs. 22.2%). Sunset also outperformed its closest neighbor, Sandrock Elementary, in ELA (36.3% vs. 25.2% in 2024-25).

Perhaps the brightest spot is how well Sunset supports low-income students: this group ranked in the 80th percentile statewide in 2024-25 — a 4-star result that stands out given the school's high poverty rate. Chronic absenteeism, though still affecting one in five students, is well below the district's 33% rate and slightly below the state average. The student-teacher ratio has improved to 11.8, down from 14.3 two years ago. Even compared to Hayden Valley Elementary — a school with far fewer low-income students — Sunset posts similar overall results, actually exceeding Hayden in ELA and science while trailing in math. Closing this math gap is the clearest path to improving Sunset's overall standing.