Lowry Elementary School

I rate Lowry with one star. The economic diversity at this school is a source of pride in the Lowry community. The academic consequences is the hush, hush no one speaks about. A portion of the student body is ill prepared to learn. Simply sitting still and listening is a challenge for many students. Constant behavioral disruptions stall the academic process of the class room. Teachers are either exhausted with controlling students or have given up and the class room is chaos. This financial diversity needs to be diversified . This school is not helping these kids that come to school with more emotinal baggage than a child should have to carry. With the consequence being this is not a place of academic growth.

Our family "choiced" into Lowry, and has not been disappointed with this choice. After 5 years at Lowry. Being involved in PTO,we get to have a closer hands-on experience seeing all the great things going on in this school. The efforts at being more inclusive of all our school's culturally, racially, economically and academically diverse population, increase each year as the school evolves and the Lowry neighborhood completes its development. This school has an extremely diverse population, and there are subsequent challenges as a result. The entire community --students, parents, teachers and administration -- have developed innovative and creative programs to assist both challenged kids and "gifted" kids. At Lowry, ALL our kids are "gifted," and really lucky to have such a great team that knows how to bring out the best in every student. Great parent involvement. Wonderful teachers (for the most part) and a great principal.
—Submitted by a parent

Lowry Elementary has definitely become one of the strongest Elementary Schools in the district. With an extremely strong parent involvement and teacher satisfaction rating it just keeps getting better and better. It has curriculum for every type of student, amazing art & music classrooms, as well as Challenge & Enrichment programs.
—Submitted by a parent

Has programs to help every type of student excel
—Submitted by a parent

The climate at this school is outstanding. The principal and teachers strive to meet the needs of all students and do so with success. The extra activities are wonderful and so are the special offerings. Both of my children (one GT) are finding learning enjoyable. I also love the parent community.
—Submitted by a parent

Take the time to visit this school - it's impressive. The academics are strong. The school goes above and beyond to meet the learning needs of each child. Exceptional teachers and staff. Outstanding administrative leadership. Unmatched parent involvement. Many learning opportunities outside the classroom... two gardens, enrichment program, challenge classes, technology, art, gym, music, library, drama and more.
—Submitted by a parent

Our daughter is in kindergarten and also attended the ECE program. We are extremely happy with the school in all aspects -- excellent administration, great parental involvement, great teachers, and so on. Our daughter is very happy there and we can see that she is being sufficiently challenged. I am glad to see a big increase in the number of parents choosing to send their kids to Lowry. At the same time, I like the diversity -- it breaks up the homogeneity you'd otherwise see in a new suburban school, but it never feels overwhelming or challenging.
—Submitted by a parent

We have been attending and involved with this school since inception in 2001. The staff and leadership is top notch. The parent involvement is un-matched. The kids are very engaged. Please look at Lowry as a choice. Torgerson.
—Submitted by a parent

This is an outstanding school with excellent leadership, dedicated and well trained staff and high parent involvement. The students take genuine pride in their school, which is no surprise given all the innovative programs offered there, which significantly impact all Lowry students, from the highly gifted to the high achieving to those performing below grade level. In addition, the school has the highest teacher satisfication rating in all of Denver Public Schools! It's truly a wonderful place to be and we feel fortunate to have such an outstanding public school in our neighborhood. The bonus is that we can walk or bike there daily!
—Submitted by a parent

We have 3 children that attend Lowry. Our eldest child has been at the school since it opened. We have been very pleased with both the academic and extra curricular activities at the school. We are in the position to send our children to a private school if we desire. However, we feel that the educational opportunities and social diversity at Lowry cannot be matched.
—Submitted by a parent

I have two students at Lowry, my oldest has attended the school since 2005. Both of my children have been thriving in the school, thanks to wonderful teachers, programs and administration. The teachers are exceptional in their ability to teach to different learning styles and abilities in the classroom, as well as being caring and compassionate. Lowry offers an excellent and always improving program for gifted students, including a challenge program available to all students who excell in various areas, and a G/T program, run by a full-time gifted teacher. Their art program is exceptional, and the new on-site garden and garden program show great promise. Where Lowry it truly unique is in it's diverse student population. My children have thrived in the multi-cultural, multi-socio-economic environment, which I find to be a wonderful part of their education.
—Submitted by a parent

We have two kid attending, a 4th grader and 1st grader. The 4th grader has been attending since Kindergarden. The teachers have been outstanding. The programs are great.
—Submitted by a parent

I am the parent of two Lowry students, and over the past five years, they have thrived both academically and socially. Their teachers have been enthusiastic, motivating and loving. The principal devotes herself tirelessly to the school and her staff, to the point where Lowry teachers have the highest job satisfaction of all schools in DPS. The school has about 39% low income kids and 50% minorities, and my children have really benefitted from the expsoure to all different types of kids. It's an invaluable experience that will help them for the rest of their lives. We love this school.
—Submitted by a parent

I am a parent of two children at Lowry. I believe this is a caring, wonderful place for all children, and now it's becoming a true neighborhood school. The level of parent and community support is unrivaled in DPS, and the creative leadership at the school has brought about a Challenge program for motivated students, an exceptional art program with an in-house kiln, visiting children's theater programs, outdoor gardens where the children can grow things and dig in the dirt, many great enrichment programs after school, etc. The school has a wide range of ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, and the principal and teachers have very high goals and expectations. I would send my child to this school instead of the area's private schools even if they were free! The CSAP scores, which have gone up significantly, are only a small piece of the story here--there is so much more!
—Submitted by a parent

My son has been attending Lowry since 1st grade. His first 4 years have been good, sometimes great. But his 5th grade year has been disappointing, difficult and far from acceptable. The school environment has become unfriendly, primarily due to a change in the student population. With a rougher crowd of kids, the classroom and playground are not safe. The principal and teachers are more concerned about avoiding blackmarks on their record than actually addressing the problem. My complaints of attacks on my son have been ignored altogether or paid lip-service. If my son weren't finishing his last year anyway, I would definitely be looking for another school.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter is enjoying her 2nd year at Lowry, she started as a Kindergartener,and is now in 1st grade. I have been impressed from the start at the focus on academics, particularly in the way that the children are evaluated and put into groups based on their reading/math level etc. I am very pleased with the enrichment classes offered after school, as well as the art/music/PE that is part of the regular curriculum. I find the teachers and office administrators to be responsive, proactive and courteous. I like the 'no bullys' policy, and the amount of attention/focus this gets in the materials that come home. Parent PTO communication is mostly through handouts and email. I am very eager to participate in all of the 'invitations' that go out, but have noticed it seems to be mostly parents of the 3rd grade and younger children.
—Submitted by Lolly, a parent

So far we have had a great experience with both our k. and first grade teachers. We have music, art sports and extracurricular activities. I was not too impressed with the PTO at the school. It seems as though there is a divide in the school between the haves and the have nots. I think the pto caters to those who come from a higher socio-economic class than many of the families that attend Lowry. Fundraising activities included things like a golf fundraiser. It felt rather exclusive to me and turned me off from becoming more involved with them. I attended one meeting and attendance was pretty low. Maybe it was just an off day? I am concerned with the lates csap figures for 2005 in which Lowry went from an overall rating of average to low. Need to know more.
—Submitted by a parent

I pulled my children out of this school after multiple displine problems during the course of 3 years. Displine problems were by other children physically or mentally attacking my children. The new principal took at least six months to do something about the consistent problems in this school. The lack of paraprofessionals not being responsible for younger children and leaving them alone in bathrooms and the lunch room by themselves. Low CSAP scores in upper grades. Teachers are teaching to the test and not teaching anything else during the months of Jan-May. I felt that my older childs math had fallen through the cracks and I was right after transferring to a new school finding out she couldn't even do subtraction. My Kindergarter could do 1st grade math. Finding out how bored my children were at Lowry. If you have a gifted and talented child I would not recommend Lowry Elem.
—Submitted by a teacher

The quality of the school is generally good, though particularly so in the earlier k-2nd grades. The CSAP scores do not reflect the quality of the school given that it is so new and it is still 'finding its legs'. Much promise.
—Submitted by a parent