Summary:
Zip code 79323 in Denver City, TX, is served by two elementary schools within the Denver City Independent School District (Isd): Dodson Pri (Pre-K through 2nd grade) and Kelley Elementary (3rd through 5th grade), which together form a complete K-5 pipeline for 643 students.
Kelley Elementary is the standout school for its detailed academic data, but the trends are concerning. Reading and math proficiency declined sharply from 2024-2025 to 2025-2026, with 3rd-grade reading dropping from 47% to 29% and 3rd-grade math falling from 36% to 24%. The school’s state ranking also plummeted from the 57th percentile (3 stars) to the 28th percentile (1 star). Most critically, 5th-grade science proficiency was just 16.3% in 2024-2025, far below the state average of 29.57%. Despite spending $1,925 more per student ($12,546) than Dodson Pri ($10,621), Kelley Elementary is not translating that investment into better outcomes, suggesting a need for strategic review of instruction and resource allocation.
Dodson Pri serves a higher-poverty population, with 69.46% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch compared to 64.08% at Kelley Elementary. Both schools share identical student-teacher ratios (15.6 and 15.4) and the same district ranking (36th percentile, 2 stars). The data suggests a potential "achievement cliff" as students transition from primary to upper elementary grades, with Kelley Elementary’s 5th-grade science performance being a clear, urgent area for intervention. The Spanish-language STAAR program at Kelley Elementary also shows mixed results, with reading and science scores far below state averages, indicating the bilingual program may need strengthening.
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