Best Public Schools in Zip Code 81052

Zip code 81052 in Lamar, Colorado contains 5 public schools serving grades K-12, all part of Lamar School District No. Re-2, a district that ranks in the bottom quarter statewide. The clear academic standout is Alta Vista Charter School, which earns a 3-star rating and ranks at the 64th percentile among Colorado elementary schools. Alta Vista is the only school in the area where proficiency in reading and math meets or exceeds state averages, and it also has by far the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (4.4%) and the lowest poverty rate (44.4% free/reduced lunch). In contrast, Parkview Elementary School is the lowest-performing traditional school, ranking at the 5th percentile with just 8.5% of students proficient in math and 19.7% in reading, while facing an 83.7% poverty rate.

Early-grade challenges are most visible at Washington Elementary School, which serves only K-2 and therefore has no test scores. Its chronic absenteeism rate of 42.9% is the highest in the district and nearly triple the state average, and its poverty rate of 86.5% is also the highest. These factors likely set students up for difficulty when they move to Parkview in 3rd grade. At the other end of the pipeline, Lamar High School boasts a 96.6% graduation rate, yet only 8% of 11th graders are proficient in SAT math and 27% in reading, revealing a major gap between graduating and being ready for college.

Lamar Middle School is the only non-charter school showing consistent improvement, rising from the 29th to the 40th percentile over three years. Math remains the biggest academic weakness across every school, including Alta Vista, where proficiency is only modestly above state averages. The district's unusual grade configuration — with Washington serving K-2, Parkview 3-5, Alta Vista K-6, and Lamar Middle 6-8 — complicates comparisons, but the overall picture is clear: poverty and chronic absenteeism are strongly tied to low performance, while Alta Vista demonstrates that strong outcomes are possible even within a low-ranked district. Parents should pay close attention to attendance patterns and math instruction in the early grades.