Colorado Springs School District No. 11 in the County of E

Colorado Springs School District No. 11 serves 22,740 students across Colorado Springs, making it one of the larger public districts in the state. The district runs 58 schools in total, giving families a wide range of options from elementary through high school. With that scale comes real variation in school quality — knowing where each campus lands matters.

Across 57 ranked schools, the district averages 6.1 out of 10. That puts the typical school in solid but not exceptional territory. Parents should treat that average as a baseline, not a ceiling: the spread within the district is significant, and the top performers sit well above the middle. Comparing individual school scores against that 6.1 mark is the fastest way to identify which campuses consistently outperform their peers.

The elementary tier is where the district stands out. Queen Palmer Elementary leads with a 9.2 out of 10 — the highest score in the district. Freedom Elementary follows at 9.1, putting two schools in an elite upper tier. Buena Vista and Midland Elementary both score 8.6, and Steele Elementary rounds out the top five at 8.5. Five elementary schools clearing 8.5 signals genuine strength at the early-grades level. Families prioritizing elementary education will find a concentrated cluster of high-performing options worth targeting.

The district's size works in parents' favor. With 58 schools, there is enough geographic and programmatic range that most families can find a strong campus within a reasonable distance. The gap between the district average of 6.1 and its top performers — 9.2 at Queen Palmer — tells an important story: this is not a uniformly performing district. Where a student lands within it matters enormously. Parents willing to be intentional about school selection, rather than defaulting to the nearest campus, have real access to schools that clear the district average by a wide margin. Start with the five top-rated elementary schools and work outward from there when building a shortlist.