Best Public Schools in Zip Code 81324

Zip code 81324 covers Dove Creek, Colorado, and is served by two small schools in the Dolores County School District Re-2j: Dove Creek Elementary School (PK–5) and Dove Creek High School (grades 6–12). There is no separate middle school, so grades 6 through 8 attend the high school, and there are no alternative schools. Combined enrollment is approximately 262 students. Both schools serve a majority low-income population, with free/reduced lunch rates of 54% at the elementary and 60% at the high school. The district ranks in the bottom 3% of Colorado districts, but that low ranking does not tell the full story.

Dove Creek High School is the clear standout. It has earned a 3-star rating for three consecutive years and sits around the 60th percentile statewide. Its graduation rate is 88.2%, its dropout rate is just 0.8%, and chronic absenteeism (16.1%) is far below the state average. On the SAT Reading/Writing test, 72% of 11th graders were proficient, compared to 62% statewide. Dove Creek Elementary School, by contrast, is the primary concern. Its state ranking fell from the 34th percentile in 2024–2025 to the 15th percentile in 2025–2026, and chronic absenteeism is 31.3% — nearly double the high school's rate and above the state average. Elementary test scores are below state averages in nearly every subject and grade.

The high school's literacy strength does not extend to math: just 28% of 10th graders were proficient on the PSAT10 math test, and across all grades, CMAS English Language Arts scores at the high school were only 12% proficient. A strong graduation rate may be masking these academic struggles. With only 124–138 students per school, grade cohorts are very small, so one or two students can dramatically change proficiency percentages — an important caveat when interpreting scores like 22.2% in 5th-grade science. The elementary school's absenteeism problem and declining scores deserve urgent attention, since those students will eventually enter the high school. Despite significant economic challenges, the high school demonstrates that strong outcomes are possible in this district.