Downtown Denver Expeditionary School in Denver

Category	Rating	Details
Test Scores	6/10	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.

Posted: October 9, 2025

My daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia in March of this year. It's now October (seven months later) and we still haven't been given the opportunity to meet with a staff member to set up a 50 Plan. W have an appointment scheduled for next week but in the intervening seven months my daughter has boomed two standardized tests.

We all know how it feels to do poorly on a test. It's demoralizing. If there were a 504 plan in place for my daughter, she would have been allowed to take those tests without a time constraint. However, I have detected ZERO motivation on the part of anyone at the school to try to put a 504 Plan in place for her.

This school is failing my daughter. It's not teaching her to reading and it's destroying her self esteem.

Peter Simon
Parent

Posted: October 9, 2025

Posted: October 6, 2025

I absolutely love this school and have to wonder why I never knew about it until now! The staff here is wonderful. Everyone I have encountered goes about and beyond. The teachers, teacher-aids and paras are so awesome. I am very grateful for so many here. My son has some learning disabilities and other diagnoses and they have been so easy to work with and support. Even with receiving sped services, my son gets a lot of support. This is one of the first schools that follows accommodations and even helps with specific items for children. The breakout rooms are so helpful for him. I love the learning model they use and get kids outside and in their community.
None of my kids learn sitting at their desks all day and just receiving instruction. They have field trips! They allow the kids to learn hands on. I would recommend this school to anyone. They are very neurodiverse and try to include everyone.

Posted: October 6, 2025

We have two kids at DDES, a 4th grader and a kindergartener. Our oldest has been there since kindergarten. We absolutely LOVE the school and the values they instill. Teaching kids to be Crew, not passengers, to take responsibility for their learning, and to follow the way of the blue bear really shows in how our kids are developing. We cant say enough great things about DDES, its students, staff, and community.

Posted: October 6, 2025

Posted: October 5, 2025

Were now entering our second year at DDES, and we continue to feel incredibly grateful to be part of this community. Its such an inspiring group of educators and families who truly believe in the schools mission. Our child feels supported, seen, and excited to come to school every dayshe loves learning, creating, and being herself here.

DDES doesnt just focus on academics; theyre helping kids learn how to be good people and make the world a better place. The teachers foster curiosity, kindness, and confidence in a way that feels both intentional and joyful. Its a place that values character, collaboration, and real-world learningand it shows in the way the kids talk about what theyre doing. We couldnt be happier to be part of this community.

Posted: October 5, 2025

Posted: September 12, 2025

I have two children at DDES and it has been an exceptional experience overall and both of my children love it,. This is our third year there. I judge schools more by the overall approach to things since individual teachers can be a mixed bag. Importantly, when there have been teacher concerns I think administration was prompt and approached it from a coaching and skill development perspective. I also think older students were given opportunities to take ownership about some of the issues and given the right to brainstorm some of the solutions.
They have a robust mental health team for a small school (including a therapy dog!) and I know multiple families who feel that their children with different needs have been embraced and supported in ways different from other schools. I also know some families who found it a bad match, which seems inevitable at any school.
The school has two outdoor trips per year for most grades which is a remarkable offering. They also do project-based learning and my kids have learned a lot from the experience. They do a tremendous amount of math instruction support for the staff and have a very well-attended Family Math night.

Posted: September 12, 2025

Posted: July 14, 2024

My previous review was deleted. We had a bad experience at the school, I'll leave it at that. There has been a big exodus of students out of this school and high staff turnover.

Posted: July 14, 2024

Posted: April 19, 2023

This school is a dream! My son is excelling and has made so many friends. The staff and leadership are incredibly inclusive, transparent, responsive, and caring. The school itself is diverse, modeling what it means to be committed to equity, inclusion, and integration. Teachers genuinely care about my child's social-emotional and physical well-being. Our son can articulate what they are working on during the day and we have regular celebrations and check-ins. We love the EL model, the regular 'fieldwork' outside of the building, and of course, the Adventure component (camping with their class). We love DDES!

Posted: April 19, 2023

Posted: January 27, 2022

Our son has been going to DDES since 1st grade and is now in 3rd grade. We cant say enough wonderful things about DDES!!!! The teachers really love to teach and sincerely care for the well-being of each kid! We also love the crew mentality! No one is a passenger, they are all part of a crew! If youre looking for schools in the Denver area please consider sending your child here!

Posted: January 27, 2022

Posted: December 10, 2021

My son has attended DDES for two years now and I have been so impressed with the quality of teachers, emphasis on social emotional learning, project based learning and community-centered approach. It is a nurturing and supportive environment with strong academics, as well. It is truly a gem in the middle of downtown!

Posted: December 10, 2021

We transferred my son to DDES during the shutdown. He went from hating school to being excited to go, even if it was just online. This year in person has been phenomenal for him. The staff is caring and smart and all around wonderful.

Posted: December 10, 2021

I cant say enough positive things about this school. My kids have both attended since kindergarten and I have seen so much positive emotional and academic growth. The school does an amazing job on nurturing the whole student. The teachers have been so supportive, engaged, empathetic, and inspiring.

Posted: December 10, 2021

Posted: December 9, 2021

We could not be more thrilled with our experience at DDES. The level of care, support, and love that is poured into the kids is more than we could ask for. The emphasis on growth-oriented skills and mindsets, the positive environment, teaching the kids to support each other, the adventures and fieldwork, the encouragement to tackle and work through challenges... all of it has resulted in our 1st grader loving school and the friends shes making, and feeling proud of herself for working hard and learning new things. We are so happy and grateful we landed at DDES!

Posted: December 9, 2021

Posted: June 14, 2018

DDES is amazing in theory, but troubled in execution. We were excited to put our children in a place where they were immersed in a busy downtown environment, one that might inspire them through the city's diversity, focus, and grit. We found those qualities lacking at the school. We initially embraced the school but over the years that is no longer the case.

We've met incredible families at the school. But it's apparent to us that the motivation for a number of parents to enroll children has more to do with giving them the chance to brag about turning their noses up at established traditional schools in favor of a counterculture alternative. Sadly the line between pride and gloating ruins the appeal.

Teachers are very pleasant and work hard to create an engaging atmosphere, but nearly all of them are very young with little to no experience. You see many of them struggling and failing to resolve issues in a productive way that you wouldn't see with seasoned staff. There were multiple instances where teachers trying to do the right thing for their students were quickly cowed and dismissed by parents with very strong personalities.

Our family felt too many schools are far too impersonal, rigid and more dedicated to achieving high test scores through rote learning that just doesn't work with kids. That's why we chose DDES. But over time we realized DDES was taking it too far in the other direction with "everyone gets a medal just for showing up" mindset. We felt our children were losing out at learning fundamentals that they will need in higher education because teaching time was spent showing kids how to do things differently just for the sake of doing it differently.

What frustrated our family was that DDES and the collective parents never seemed to really take a hard look at themselves and ask "How can we do better?" Instead it always seemed to return to either "Well at least we not like those traditional schools." or finger pointing amongst each other.

We do sincerely hope that DDES does thrive and one day become a model for expeditionary excellence in Denver metro. Right now it appears to be a long road to get there.

#	Name	Type	City	State	Distance
1	Cherry Creek	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Denver	CO	2.4 mi
2	Sterling Hills West	Area of Town	Aurora	CO	12.7 mi
3	Forest Lakes	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Monument	CO	47.5 mi

Downtown Denver Expeditionary School

Denver, CO 80203

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Downtown Denver Expeditionary School

Denver, CO 80203

School Ratings

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