Summary:
Zip code 80623 (Gilcrest, Colorado) is home to exactly 3 schools — Valley High School (grades 9–12), North Valley Middle School (grades 6–8), and Gilcrest Elementary School (grades PK–5) — all belonging to Weld County Reorganized School District No. Re-1, a district that ranks 83rd out of 115 Colorado districts. The three schools serve 909 total students, all with free/reduced lunch rates between 61% and 67%, and student-to-teacher ratios that are favorably small, ranging from 13.1 to 14.7.
Gilcrest Elementary School is the clear academic standout — it is the only school in the zip code above the state average in any subject, beating the state in ELA/reading (47.7% vs. 44.7%) and earning a 3-star rating and a 50th-percentile rank. Valley High School has the opposite profile: it ranks in the 29th percentile with a 1-star rating and math scores well below state averages, yet its 95.5% graduation rate far exceeds the state's 85.6% — though 36.8% chronic absenteeism is a major concern. North Valley Middle School has fallen the hardest, dropping from a 3-star to a 2-star rating and seeing ELA proficiency slide from 42.6% to 35.0% in one year.
Math is the most consistent weakness across all three schools, with proficiency trailing the state by roughly 10–13 percentage points at every level. There are also positive signs: Valley High School posted strong year-over-year gains in science (17.6% to 30.2%), SAT reading, and SAT math, and both the middle and elementary schools have chronic absenteeism rates below the state average at 25.9%. Overall, families in 80623 will find a small, high-poverty school community with a strong elementary school, a high school that excels at graduating students, and a middle school that bears watching for declining performance.
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