Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 80909

Zip code 80909 in Colorado Springs is home to 7 elementary schools serving roughly 1,851 students, most covering PK/K through 5th grade while the two charter schools—Coperni 3 and Colorado Springs Charter Academy—extend through 8th grade. The schools fall under two governing districts: the State Charter School Institute and Colorado Springs School District No. 11. The area serves a predominantly high-poverty population, with an average free/reduced lunch rate of 68.4%, and chronic absenteeism averaging 36.8%—more than 8 points above the state rate of 28.4%.

Audubon Elementary School is the standout overall, ranking 445th of 943 (53rd percentile) with 3 stars—the highest rank in the zip code. It is the only school here to top the state math average (43.4% vs. 37.3%), and it nearly matches the state in ELA. Queen Palmer Elementary School leads the area in ELA at 45.0%, the only school above the state average of 44.7%, and it also posts strong 3rd-grade math at 55.6%. Interestingly, the charter schools do not outperform the D-11 schools: Colorado Springs Charter Academy and Coperni 3 average just 28.3% in ELA and 22.4% in math, while the five D-11 schools average 32.2% and 27.1%, respectively—even though the charters serve a somewhat less impoverished population (60.1% vs. 71.7% free/reduced lunch).

At the other end of the spectrum, Twain Elementary School is the most at-risk school, ranking in the 8th percentile with a 55.0% chronic absenteeism rate—nearly double the state—and the lowest ELA proficiency in the group at 17.6%. James Irwin Elementary School - Howard suffered the sharpest decline, falling from the 58th to the 19th percentile, with math proficiency collapsing to just 6.4%, the lowest in the dataset by a wide margin. Coperni 3 offers one bright spot in its middle grades: 8th-grade math proficiency reaches 44.8%, well above the state average of 37.8%. Still, no school in 80909 exceeds state averages across all subjects, so parents should weigh each school's specific strengths—whether Audubon's math, Queen Palmer's ELA, or Coperni's middle-school program—when making their choice.