Best Public Schools in Zip Code 80010

Zip code 80010 in Aurora, CO is home to 14 schools serving about 9,043 students in grades PK–12, with the vast majority of students coming from high-poverty households (about 91% free/reduced lunch) and many schools facing elevated chronic absenteeism. The area largely belongs to Aurora Joint District No. 28, which ranks in the 8th percentile statewide, meaning most schools in this neighborhood score well below state averages in reading and math. Chronic absenteeism runs at about 44% on average—far higher than the state’s 28.4%—and more than half of the schools have absenteeism rates above 45%, making attendance one of the biggest challenges in the area.

A few schools stand out for beating the odds. Aurora Academy Charter School is the clear academic leader: it is the only school in the zip code that meets or exceeds state proficiency in both ELA (49.6%) and math (38.1%), despite serving a student body where 74% qualify for free/reduced lunch. Rocky Mountain Prep: Fletcher also stands out with the lowest chronic absenteeism in the zip code (14.7%) and solid math scores, while Aurora Science & Technical Middle School shows meaningful improvement and is the strongest middle school option. On the high school side, Aurora West College Preparatory Academy posts a strong 90.1% graduation rate, but test scores are very low, indicating students may graduate without being fully college-ready.

The biggest takeaway for parents is that high poverty does not automatically mean low performance—schools like Aurora Academy and Rocky Mountain Prep prove that strong attendance and school culture can make a huge difference. Chronic absenteeism is the clearest warning sign: the lowest-performing schools, such as New Legacy Charter School (87% absenteeism, 38% graduation rate) and Aurora Central Campus (69% absenteeism), struggle the most. Meanwhile, schools like Montview Math & Health Sciences Elementary School and Kenton Elementary School are showing small but real signs of improvement. Science proficiency is especially weak across the area, and because Aurora Central Campus serves more than one in four students in 80010, improving that school alone would have an outsized impact on the entire neighborhood.