Nucla Elementary School

Nucla Elementary School is a small rural school in Naturita, Colorado, serving 161 students in grades PK-6 as part of West End School District No. Re-2. The school holds a 2-star rating and sits in the 35th percentile of Colorado elementary schools, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the state. About 56% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the high-poverty nature of the community.

Academically, math is the school's relative strength, with 33.9% of students scoring proficient compared to 37.3% statewide. English language arts is a bigger concern, with only 31.1% of students proficient versus 44.8% statewide. Science is the most significant weakness, with just 20% of 5th graders proficient compared to 36.1% statewide, though this figure dropped sharply from 35.3% the previous year, and small class sizes can cause such numbers to swing widely. Because Nucla Elementary is the only school in West End School District No. Re-2 serving these tested grades, district-wide scores are essentially the same as the school's own, so state averages are the more meaningful benchmark for comparison.

Chronic absenteeism is a major challenge. More than one in three students (36.1%) were chronically absent in the 2024-2025 school year, well above the state rate of 28.4%, and this number has been rising. This directly reduces instructional time and likely contributes to the school's struggles in reading and science. The school has been stable in the lower-middle tier for years, once reaching the 66th percentile in 2009-2010 but settling into the mid-30s since. For parents, the key takeaways are that math performance is close to state norms, while literacy, science, and attendance need the most attention.