Deer Creek Elementary School

1737 County Road 43

School District

Platte Canyon 1
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:15
Type

public

School Map for Platte Canyon 1 School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on July 26, 2024

School is neglectful of bullying and children safety / wellbeing & overall there’s been so many instances the school has tried to sweep situations under the rug like it was no big deal. Not all teachers and staff are like this but the majority are. My child came home to tell me about how they learned about slavery but made sure to mention the slaves learned valuable skills…odd thing to teach children I thought.
Submitted by parent on May 29, 2022

Great school's rating of DCES is not accurate. This a rare find , as both students and teachers are happy. DCES is an intergenerational school. Many staff members attended the school themselves with their own children now attending the school. The environment is developmentally appropriate and academically rigorous. Kids get two recesses and they enjoy the sledding hill. As for student support, the school has been incredible. I am greatful to the school for the excellent speech therapists and reading teachers. My child struggled with reading at our previous school with no help. When I transfered her to DCES, she immediately got help. Moreover, she loves being there.
Submitted by other on September 25, 2018

I loved this school and I am still benefiting from the love for learning that it instilled in me back in second grade. These reviews that complain about bullying often leave out the greatest strength of this school. that is the fact that there is a stronger student body there than you will find in most high schools around the country. Each student has a basic respect for one another as well as for learning. I know that might sound like an advertisement but an example that I can point to on how this school changed me was my love for languages. This love for languages and the love for learning about different cultures as instilled in me in the 2ed grade! The bonds and schooled that I discovered here have deepened my love of learning and helped me become a better student.
Submitted by parent on March 20, 2018

We have only been at this school for one school year so far. My child is in Kindergarten. So far I Love this school and her teacher. I am VERY protective of my children and I feel 100% comfortable with my daughter going ro school with her teacher. There have been some billing situations on the bus. Both were handled very well by the bus driver. I had a small problem when my daughter came home and said a little girl had slapped her on the bus on the way to school. So I called and emailed in a rage! I got a call back quickly and a long conversation with the principle who seemed very genuine and sincere in his concern. I expressed that I was mostly upset about the fact that no one from the school had informed me what happened. He looked into it and had the person in charge of Transportation call me. The person in charge of Transportation apologized for not contacting me sooner and said he was looking into the video of the bus ride. he also seemed to take it very seriously and was very concerned about my daughter. He assured me of the disciplinary actions taken against the other child. Now this other child is also a kindergartner so I would assume that the punishments would be less than if the child was older. I would have liked a tiny bit more punishment but I have a pretty strict parenting Style. if something were to happen again with this child I would expect more punishment than what happened this time but that will likely not happen as this child has been assigned a seat on the bus that is away from my child. So overall I am extremely pleased with this school everyone seems to genuinely care about my child and her safety. She learns so fast with her teacher and so much I'm very impressed!
Submitted by parent on August 13, 2014

I thought the world of the school, until one of my children started to get bullied. I would love to be able to say that my child was the only one that this girl bullied, unfortunately she had bullied 80% of her class mates in five years and was even caught stealing from the school multiple times. They talk a big game about Anti Bullying, even gave out Anti Bully Awards. Unfortunately their actions were completely opposite. The bullying was a child of a Special Ed teacher at PCHS. SO almost NOTHING was done. I had even requested that my child be kept away from the bully. The teachers and the school administration wouldn't even respect that request. My child was belittled in from of the class and told to "get over it" when attempted to inform the teacher of the request. When brought to the attention of the administration about the incident the excuse was he didn't get the memo. There was ABSOLUTELY no accountability or responsibility taken from either the parent of the bully, the bully, the teachers or the school administration. After that we decided that our children would never go back to that school. As long as your child is main stream you are ok, anything else RUN HARD AND FAST!
Submitted by other on May 12, 2014

I have had the privilege of going to this school for 3 or 4 years to do a presentation on Native Americans and assisting in science projects. I have the upmost respect for the principle and the teachers and volunteers I met. This principal allows the teachers to use their ideas and resources to encourage learning. My grand daughter just finished elementary school here in grand junction and she was never exposed to the excellance of a science program like Dear Park. No dissection, no models. Kudos to the principal and teachers...remove the board member who apparently doesn't value excellence. Bobbye Horton RN
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2014

I'm VERY proud of this school. Not only is it Accredited with Distinction for 2013, it's test scores for 2013 are above 80%, 89% being proficient and above. I think these so called "parents" need to take their kids to another school and then realize how LUCKY they are to have their children at Deer Creek! There is a sense of community and belonging in this school. There have been some "issues" revolving around a certain school board member and his rogue behavior which has prompted some people to feel then need to discredit this wonderful school. So take what has been written over the last 4 months with a grain of salt!
Submitted by parent on March 10, 2014

I am hoping to be impressed next year. That is what it will take for us to feel comfortable with our daughter attending this school. I am skilled in working with children myself, and understand developmental stages and needs very well. The discipline program implemented by our current first grade teacher is inconsistent, and this particular teacher focuses highly on the negative, with very limited positive reinforcement. Maybe it is better when implemented by others, but I haven't had the opportunity to observe that. The energy of her classroom is depressing--shouldn't first grade instill the fun and excitement of learning in our children? I've witnessed her shouting at our 6 and 7 year olds, as well as having displayed other demonstrations of poor temperament. Our children have had stomach aches and have not wanted to come to school some days and several of us agree it is an emotional issue rather than a physical one. Other parents who initially complained about this same teacher were rebuffed by the vice principal, who seemed to stand in blind defense of the teacher rather than promptly and thoroughly investigating. Our children deserve much better than this.
Submitted by parent on February 05, 2014

My children have all attended this school since they were in preschool and are all now in grades 2 and above, but now I have had to remove 2 of the 3 and start home schooling them due to the unprofessional and uncaring behavior of the new Vice Principal. Since the Vice Principal came on a couple of years ago the entire staff is on edge. What used to be a place my kids looked forward to going to everyday has now become a place they fear going to. The teachers use to love their jobs but now with the new Vice Principal in place the laughter and fulfillment that used to be in the air is no longer there. Sadly a once very caring and kind Principal seems to now be under the control of this dominating Vice Principal that is only concerned with how the school ranks with the states rating system. She demands that you send your child to school when they are sick and if you do keep them home she threatens you with truancy charges with the courts even when you have doctors notes stating your child has strep or whooping cough or H1N1. My children's health is my priority and I will not allow for threats that my child must be at school sick or not so that the school looks good to the state.
Submitted by parent on January 19, 2014

i moved from lakewood just to get my son in this school (deer creek elem) and am so pleased with how well they work with EVERY student on an individual basis if needed. A+++ Teachers.
Submitted by other on December 16, 2013

This school has an A rating on the Colorado School Grades website, is ranked 53rd out of 1132 Colorado elementary schools, and is accredited with Distinction by the Platte Canyon School District. Given it's remarkable achievements, I don't understand why it has such a low Great School's rating?
Submitted by parent on April 21, 2010

Overall, my daughter has had a great kindergarten experience at this school. I really like the positive behavior program Deer Creek uses (SOAR).