Orchard Park Academy

Orchard Park Academy is a PK–8 school in Denver, CO, serving 531 students as part of Westminster Public Schools. The school holds a 1-star rating, ranking 843rd out of 943 schools in Colorado (11th percentile). Proficiency rates are well below state averages, with just 20.1% of students proficient in ELA versus the state's 44.7%, and 13.1% proficient in math versus 37.3% statewide. The student body is largely high-poverty, with 89.1% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch. However, the student-teacher ratio of 14.6 is comparatively favorable, suggesting staffing levels are not the primary obstacle.

Academic performance is noticeably uneven across grades and subjects. There are clear bright spots: 4th and 5th grade math proficiency exceed district averages, and 8th grade science proficiency (30.8%) is well above the district rate (22.3%) and close to the state rate (35.4%). Conversely, 3rd grade ELA (9.4%) and 6th grade ELA (7.4%) are alarmingly low, and 5th grade science (7.3%) lags far behind. Scores also swing sharply from year to year—8th grade science has ranged from 6.1% to 30.8% in recent years—suggesting that small cohort sizes and inconsistent instructional focus may be driving these fluctuations rather than stable, school-wide progress.

Chronic absenteeism at Orchard Park is 31.5%, which is better than the district average of 38.9% but higher than the state rate of 28.4%. While low-performing in absolute terms, it is not the weakest school locally. Nearby Fairview Pk-8 posts even lower rates (5.6% in ELA and 3.4% in math). However, Colorado STEM Academy, located less than a mile away within the same district, ranks in the 82nd percentile, with ELA proficiency of 61.1% and math of 59.2%. These differing outcomes track closely with poverty and attendance: Colorado STEM Academy serves a much lower-poverty population (51.8% FRL) and has significantly lower chronic absenteeism (15.6%).