Schools in Zip Code 80239

Schools in zip code 80239 include 18 schools serving preschool through 12th grade in School District No. 1, a district ranked 71st out of 115 in Colorado — an important context for the 8,538 students served here, 84.3% of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The zip code includes 11 elementary schools (several serving through 8th grade), 3 middle schools, and 4 high schools, with enrollment ranging from 158 students at Montbello Career and Technical High School to 1,112 at Montbello High School.

The clear standouts are Lena Archuleta Elementary School, ranked in the 41st percentile statewide with 41.1% ELA proficiency — the next-best elementary school in the zip sits at just the 13th percentile — and the two DSST: Elevate Northeast campuses, DSST: Elevate Northeast High School and DSST: Elevate Northeast Middle School, which are the top-ranked schools at their levels. DSST: Elevate Northeast High School posts a 93.5% graduation rate and exceeds the state average in SAT math. At the other end, McGlone Academy and Maxwell Elementary School rank in the 0th percentile statewide, with proficiency rates in the single digits. Montbello Career and Technical High School shows the most severe warning signs: a 58.6% graduation rate, 19.6% dropout rate, and 79.9% chronic absenteeism.

Across the zip code, every subject and grade level falls below state averages, with math the weakest area (elementary math proficiency averages just 15.3% vs. the state's 37.3%). Chronic absenteeism is the defining challenge: the zip-wide average is 47.6%, and every single school exceeds the state rate of 28.4%. There are bright spots of improvement — John H. Amesse Elementary nearly doubled its ELA proficiency, and Montbello High School improved science proficiency from 6.3% to 20.5% — but the gap between the best and worst schools in this area is enormous, showing that school-level practices matter, even in a high-poverty context.