Summary:
ZIP code 81019, covering the Colorado City area, contains just one school: Craver Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 within Pueblo County School District 70. With 158 students and no elementary or high schools in the immediate ZIP code, this single middle school is the focal point for families in the area, and it offers a mixed picture of strengths and challenges.
Academically, Craver Middle School shows a clear strength in 8th-grade science, where 41.5% of students were proficient in 2025–2026, beating the district's 32.5% and the state's 35.4%; the prior year's 59.1% proficiency was more than 25 points above the district. Eighth-grade ELA is also a bright spot at 51.2% proficiency, exceeding both district and state averages, while 6th-grade ELA lags at just 27.5%. Math remains the biggest hurdle, with only 23.2% of students proficient compared to 33.1% districtwide and 37.3% statewide, a gap that has persisted for two consecutive years. Overall, this means the school is strongest in science and upper-grade reading but significantly weaker in math, particularly for younger students.
The most concerning issue is chronic absenteeism: 45.0% of students are chronically absent, far above the district's 31.6% and the state's 28.4%—roughly 71 of the school's 158 students. This likely contributes to the recent score declines, as ELA proficiency fell from 50.0% to 39.2% and science from 59.1% to 41.5% year over year. Even so, the school's statewide rank improved from the 45th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 54th percentile in 2025–2026, keeping it above the median despite the dip. With 44.3% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, the school serves a moderate-to-high poverty population, and the combination of high absenteeism and low math performance suggests that attendance interventions and math support should be priorities for families and administrators alike.
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