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Columbine Elementary School

Denver, CO 80205

Phone: (720) 424-8510
Fax: (720) 424-8535
District: Denver County 1 School District

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public • Grades PK,KG,1,2,3,4,5 • 346 students

Columbine Elementary School, a public school located in Denver, CO, serves grades PK-5 in the Denver County 1 School District.It has received a GreatSchools Rating of 7 out of 10, based on a variety of school quality measures.

Columbine Elementary School is a public school located in Denver, CO. 346 students attend Columbine Elementary School.

School Ratings

Category	Rating	Details
Test Scores	5/10	The Test Score Rating examines how students at this school performed on standardized tests compared with other schools in the state. The Test Rating was created using 2025 Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) data from Colorado Department of Education.
Student Growth	8/10	The Student Progress Rating measures whether students at this school are making academic progress over time based on student growth data provided by the Department of Education. Specifically, this rating looks at how much progress individual students have made on state assessments during the past year or more, how this performance aligns with expected progress based on a student growth model established by the state Department of Education, and how this school's growth data compares to other schools in the state. The Growth Rating was created using 2025 Student Growth - CO CMAS - Cohort-referenced data from Colorado Department of Education, and using 2025 Student Growth - CO PSAT/SAT - Cohort-referenced data from Colorado Department of Education.

Worrisome patterns of chronic student absenteeism have been identified.

Posted: May 21, 2026

For years I defended Principal Jenks and gave leadership the benefit of the doubt. Columbine is a complex school serving a diverse community with competing needs, and I believed that deserved patience and grace. I can no longer defend it. When your best teachers leave and you replace them with far less experienced ones, that's indefensible. When the parents who most vocally defended her are now privately saying she needs to go, that's indefensible. At some point the evidence speaks for itself and we've reached the point that Columbine will now take years to recover from this mass exodus of our best teachers.

The K-2 teachers at Columbine are wonderful and the data shows it. Or they were because they're all leaving. After that it gets complicated. Third grade has been a revolving door for years (4 years now of long term subs in the classroom) and 4th and 5th grade are failing kids academically. The root cause isn't the teachers it's leadership. Chronic instability, high staff turnover, and a culture where raising legitimate concerns gets you managed rather than heard (or for teachers - fired or let go through the budget cuts). If you question anything publicly, all of a sudden, you have the Principal Jenks' supporters privately saying - come on, she's trying her best. Columbine Elementary is a great neighborhood school that deserves far better leadership than it currently has.

Posted: May 21, 2026

Posted: April 8, 2026

This is the worst run school in DPS. I was encouraged to send my kids to this school through the positive things I had heard of this school through a Facebook mom group. But having my kids here has been the worst decision. It is clear that the school is so poorly managed. There is high turnover at this school with often times classrooms not having a full time teacher throughout the entire year. Classes relying fully on various substitute teachers coming in and out. On top of all of this. The Principal did not announce that the school would have an additional 5 teachers leaving for next year until AFTER choice round 1 closed. Jenks is the worst principal and clearly does not care about staff, students or families. We have applied for choice round 2 and now because of their incompetency and disregard for families, my kids will be at 2 different schools for the following year. AVOID COLUMBINE AT ALL COSTS.

Posted: April 8, 2026

Posted: June 1, 2025

Our family has spent a total of 5 years at Columbine. With a very heavy heart, I am transferring them this year. While the community and many of the families we have met at the school have been great, the school seriously lacks in leadership. Our early years at the school were phenomenal. The ECE-2nd grade teachers really supported our children. However, the 3rd-5th grade curriculum is seriously lacking, and are not setting the kids up to be prepared for middle school. This is largely in part due to lack of accountability for the upper grade teachers and a serious failure in leadership of the school. Leadership has enabled and supported the lack of educational standards and even applauding the failure. Their only focus has been on closing the gap between black/brown and white students. So while we are a very progressive family and believe the gap should be closed, their sole focus and approach on this has seriously and negatively impacted the rest of the school. And it has shown through school ratings and testing over the last 4 years which have steadily declined. Which I find ludicrous as the schools performance was on an upward trajectory when we first entered the school. The schools decline in academic achievement is tied to the most recent principal. Many of the upper classroom parents I know have been paying for outside tutors to supplement the schools educational gap. In addition to this, in our years, there have been multiple incidents of some parents being violent, bringing guns to school and threatening other parents. My family witnessed one father threaten another with a knife at school drop off. One parent brought a gun to school, and the principal allows that parent back on school grounds. It was my sincere hope to send my children to our neighborhood school and to keep them with the same community through their elementary school years. But I have to do whats right for my children and we are moving them. I just wish I would have chosen a different school to begin with and implore other families who value consistency to consider this before sending their children as their needs will not be met through their childs entire elementary education. We, like many families, were amazed by the ECE-1st grade experience and now feel like were stuck at the school, and the experience beyond those years are deeply disappointing. We are now scrambling to make sure our kids get what they need.

Posted: June 1, 2025

Posted: April 23, 2025

We have been so impressed with our child's experience and learning at Columbine during the '24-'25 school year. The dedication of teachers and staff toward creating community and building character has blown us away and our child has made great strides academically, as well. We are also happy that our child can be part of a diverse community like the one at Columbine.

Posted: March 7, 2025

Good and inclusive school. Staff are welcoming and there is a sense of community.

Posted: December 20, 2018

Love it! Columbine is a great school with amazing kids, teachers, and leaders.

Posted: October 25, 2017

great experienced at the school with my daughter love it there

Posted: March 11, 2014

I had my son in there they are great never had a problem. I was wondering why they rate the school that bad then i felt that i need to write something about it. Great school and crew thanks columbine for taking care of my son

Posted: September 5, 2013

The school was unorganized, lacked discipline policies and cops were there almost weekly. My special ed child was bullied along with other special ed students to the point we had to change schools because our children were having emotional problems. From what I saw any teachers that brought there concerns to Admin staff were put on the do not rehire list which resulted in 3/4 of the staff being replaced. In my opinion you will regret sending your child to this school, the community would be better off closing the school and the district should fire the Principal Ms Yates.

Posted: February 24, 2009

Reviews provided by GreatSchools^™

#	Name	Type	City	State	Distance
1	Cherry Creek	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Denver	CO	2.5 mi
2	Sterling Hills West	Area of Town	Aurora	CO	11.7 mi
3	Forest Lakes	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Monument	CO	48.1 mi

#	Name	City	State	Overall Rating	Distance
1	Loveland	Loveland	CO		44.2 mi

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Buckley AFB	10.9 mi.

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Columbine Elementary School

Denver, CO 80205

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