Stories of Promising Practice - Mesa 51

Quality Schools

Mesa County Valley School District 51

Mesa County Valley School District 51 is working with the Colorado Department of Education to turn around its struggling schools. The district has applied for and received Empowering Action for School Improvement (EASI) grants and has joined the Turnaround Network to help achieve its goals.

Storyline

Not long ago, Chatfield Elementary School in Grand Junction was among the most challenged schools in Mesa County Valley 51 School District with disheartening assessment scores, flagging academic growth and low marks on the state's School Performance Framework. On the 2019 School Performance Framework, Chatfield was rated as turnaround, which is the lowest rating.

In 2019, district officials and school leaders decided they had had enough. Chatfield Principal Dave McCall told his colleagues that he wanted to put the school on the map for all the right reasons. And so the transformation of Chatfield Elementary began.