Summary:
The 80461 zip code area, encompassing Leadville, Colorado, is served by four schools in the Lake County School District No. R-1: Lake County Elementary School (PK–2), Lake County Intermediate School (3–6), Lake County High School (7–12), and Cloud City High School (9–12), enrolling 931 students in a district ranked 110 out of 115 in Colorado.
The district is low-performing overall, but individual schools vary widely. Lake County High School, the largest school with 389 students, stands out for a 95.2% graduation rate, well above the state's 85.6%, yet only 23% of students are proficient in ELA and 17.7% in math, while 43.1% are chronically absent. In contrast, Cloud City High School serves just 35 highly at-risk students (80% low-income) with a 55% graduation rate and 4.5% dropout rate. Lake County Intermediate School is a brighter spot, with 13.2% chronic absenteeism and improved ELA proficiency (18.9% to 25.5%), while Lake County Elementary School has the lowest poverty rate (48%) and best attendance (10.2%), though it lacks test data since it serves PK–2.
Two issues stand out district-wide. Chronic absenteeism is largely a high school problem—43.1% at Lake County High versus roughly 10–13% at the elementary schools—pointing to disengagement as students age. Math proficiency is critically low everywhere, including just 6.3% proficiency in 4th grade compared to a 39% state average. There are positive trends: math scores improved at the high school, and science proficiency rose at the intermediate school. Families should weigh the strong graduation rates against the weak test scores, and expect that targeted help in math and attendance will be important for student success in this district.
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