Ralston Elementary School

We moved to Golden to attend Ralston and it was the best move we have ever made. The community and the teachers are the best! Our children are kind, respectful, and educated. Prepared well to be confident, competent and kind. ALP is available as well as a solid education. The community that is brought together thanks to this school is amazing. Great parents, PTA, and teachers.

My kids moved to Ralston 2 years ago from another jeffco elementary that is rated 10/10. Ralston has been excellent and far better than the other school. My daughter has an IEP and an ALP and she is thriving in the smaller classes with personalized attention. The Teachers are wonderful! Very strong community feel. Couldn't be happier. There is an interim principle this year and I feel like there is lots of district support and leadership. I hope the interim principle stays, happy so far.

Ralston may be a great school for your child if they fit inside the box. If they have special needs and no IEP, they will not get the help they need (and even with an IEP it's questionable). They simply don't know how, nor have the resources. Poor leadership over the past few years has resulted in many families leaving the school. Unfortunately, district leadership has supported this poor leadership. There are a few good teachers at Ralston, and its unfortunate they have pushed so many families away (with and without with special needs.)

We have two children in Ralston and have been very pleased overall. We did a lot of research before deciding on a school. We chose Ralston based on its ratings on 4 different websites, and its overall educational scores. The final decision was made after we visited several other local schools and felt very comfortable and welcomed at Ralston. The only negative experience we've had is that a few of the teachers seem a little worn out. One teacher in particular almost caused us to leave the school, but the administration is so strong, so involved, and extremely vested in the educational aspect of the students that it made up for one or two teachers that miss the mark in the area of caring and sensitivity. The PTA is strong, and many of the parents stay closely involved. There is a slight air of superiority among some parental cliques, but if you're there for your child's education, and not your own social needs, then Ralston is the right choice. Overall we're very glad we found Ralston. We plan on keeping our children there until their natural attrition into middle school.