Other / mixed grade configuration · Fort Collins, CO

Lopez Elementary School

Federal NCES profile for Lopez Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 44/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 080399001409
0/100100/10044/100
👥 S:T ratio
34
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
28
📋 Attendance
44
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Lopez Elementary School earns 44/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Colorado median.

#14 of 29
schools in Fort Collins · Resource Index
44
Resource Index · Typical
16.4:1
students per teacher
37.5%
free-lunch eligible

Lopez Elementary School has class sizes near the Colorado median. Computed live against every Colorado school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Lopez Elementary School ranks #14 of 29 schools in Fort Collins, CO.

Enrollment

361

Colorado · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

22.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

16.4:1

vs 16.6:1 Colorado avg

-1% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

37.5%

vs 38.5% Colorado avg

-3% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Lopez Elementary School compares with Colorado and U.S. medians

At or below state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Lopez Elementary School

Lopez Elementary School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Fort Collins, Colorado, enrolling 361 students.

At 16.4:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Colorado median, within a few percentage points of the 16.6:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 37.5% lands close to the Colorado typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

With 361 students, its enrollment sits close to the Colorado median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 1,922 scored Colorado schools.

Against 329 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #133.

Its student body is led by White (68%) and Hispanic or Latino (21%) (diversity index 49/100).

Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 361 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.

Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 22.4% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.

Poudre School District R-1 also operates Rocky Mountain High School (2,044 students) and Fossil Ridge High School (1,846 students) alongside Lopez Elementary School.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Lopez Elementary School compares

Lopez Elementary School on the metrics families compare, against Colorado and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Colorado Colorado avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 16.4:1 ▼ 1% 16.6:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 37.5% ▼ 3% 38.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 361 top 50% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

16.4:1
Leaner classes than 35% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
361
Bigger than 41% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
37.5%
free-lunch eligible - 3% below the Colorado average of 38.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
16.4:1
students per teacher - 1% below state mean
Top 57% in Colorado - lower ratio than 43% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
22.4%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$13,223
per pupil, district-wide - below Colorado avg of $16,273
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 361 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
2
in-school suspensions + 3 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.4 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

White 67.9%
Hispanic or Latino 21.3%
Two or More 5.8%
African American 3.3%
Asian 1.7%

Largest group: White at 67.9% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 48.9/100

Simpson diversity index - at 48.9, Lopez Elementary School is about as mixed as the Colorado school average of 47.1.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Poudre School District R-1, which includes Lopez Elementary School.

$13,223
Per student
-19%
vs Colorado
Avg $16,273
-20%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 57.5%
State 35.4%
Federal 7.1%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Lopez Elementary School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Rocky Mountain High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Fossil Ridge High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Fort Collins High School Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Liberty Common Charter School Larger No free-lunch data Higher S:T ratio
Timnath Middle-High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Lopez Elementary School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Poudre School District R-1 · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Colorado, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Lopez Elementary School's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Lopez Elementary School

How many students attend Lopez Elementary School?

Lopez Elementary School has 361 students enrolled. It is a public school in Fort Collins, CO.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Lopez Elementary School?

The student-teacher ratio at Lopez Elementary School is 16.4:1, which is 1% lower than the Colorado average of 16.6:1 and 4% higher than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Lopez Elementary School?

37.5% of students at Lopez Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Colorado average of 38.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Lopez Elementary School?

The largest demographic group at Lopez Elementary School is White at 67.9% of enrollment, in Fort Collins, CO.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Lopez Elementary School?

Lopez Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 44/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Lopez Elementary School rank among schools in Fort Collins?

By Resource Investment Index, Lopez Elementary School ranks #14 of 29 schools in Fort Collins, CO. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Fort Collins on the city page.

Is Lopez Elementary School a good school?

Lopez Elementary School earns 44/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Colorado median. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Poudre School District R-1?

Besides Lopez Elementary School, Poudre School District R-1 also operates Rocky Mountain High School (2,044 students), Fossil Ridge High School (1,846 students), and Fort Collins High School (1,836 students). See the Poudre School District R-1 district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.