Best Public Schools in Zip Code 80459

Zip code 80459, serving the Kremmling, Colorado area, contains two schools—West Grand Elementary and Middle School (grades K–8, 262 students) and West Grand High School (grades 9–12, 123 students)—both part of the West Grand School District No. 1. Neither school ranks highly statewide, with the elementary/middle school at the 30th percentile and the high school at the 18th percentile, while the district itself sits in the bottom tier of Colorado districts.

Comparing the two schools, the elementary/middle school shows a notable strength in upper-elementary reading: 5th grade ELA proficiency matches the state average (50%), and 6th grade ELA exceeds it (43.8% vs. 41.6%). However, early reading is a crisis point, with only 10.3% of 3rd graders proficient in ELA, and overall math proficiency is just 13.9%. West Grand High School performs relatively better in reading and writing on PSAT exams but struggles severely in math—only 9% of 11th graders are proficient on SAT math. The most striking concern is chronic absenteeism: 46.2% of high school students are chronically absent, far above the state's 28.4%, and the high school also has a lower graduation rate (82.5%) and higher dropout rate (2.7%) than state averages.

Both schools share similar economic profiles, with about 42% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch, and both maintain low student–teacher ratios (12.5 and 10.5) that have not translated into high achievement. District and school scores are identical since each school is the only one serving its grade span, meaning these two schools fully define the district's performance. While the elementary/middle school improved from the 11th to the 30th percentile this year, that follows a prior drop, and the high school has declined to its lowest percentile in three years. For parents, the immediate priorities should be addressing the high school's absenteeism crisis and the elementary school's early literacy and math gaps.