Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 80916

Eight elementary schools in zip code 80916 (Colorado Springs, CO), all part of Harrison School District No. 2, serve grades PK/K through 5 (with two K-8 schools) and an average of 407 students per school in a high-poverty area where every school reports over 50% free/reduced lunch eligibility and proficiency averages trail the state by wide margins.

Soaring Eagles Community School is the strongest all-around performer, ranking in the 51st percentile (3 stars) with ELA (44.5%) and math (37.2%) essentially at state averages. Sand Creek International School has the best reading scores in the zip code (45.9% ELA, above the state average) but math proficiency is just 21.6%. Turman Elementary School, the smallest school with the lowest student-teacher ratio (10.5:1), posts strong results (44.9% ELA, 35.4% math) despite 72.4% poverty. James Irwin Elementary School - Astrozon has by far the best attendance (8.4% chronic absenteeism) but has fallen from a 4-star to a 2-star rating. The most challenging situations are at Atlas Preparatory Elementary School (14.7% ELA), Giberson Elementary School (21.9%), and Bricker Elementary School (25.2%).

Math is the area's biggest academic gap: the zip code average of 23.7% proficiency means roughly three in four students are not proficient, and only Soaring Eagles Community School (37.2%) and Turman Elementary School (35.4%) approach state-level performance. Chronic absenteeism strongly tracks achievement — the lowest-performing schools all have absenteeism above 31%, while James Irwin Elementary School - Astrozon (8.4%) and Soaring Eagles Community School (20.5%) sit below the state average of 28.4%. Encouragingly, Wildflower Elementary School and Giberson Elementary School posted double-digit ELA gains over the past year, suggesting improvement is possible even for schools near the bottom. For parents, Soaring Eagles Community School offers the best overall balance of academics and attendance; Turman Elementary School demonstrates that a small-school environment can thrive in a high-poverty context; and families comparing the two K-8 schools should note that Soaring Eagles Community School finishes strong in 8th grade while Sand Creek International School's performance drops noticeably by 8th grade.