Saddle Ranch Elementary to Eldorado Elementary Pairing
Golden Ridge Elementary Opens in Fall 2026
On December 16, 2025, the DCSD Board of Education unanimously approved the new name of Golden Ridge Elementary School when Saddle Ranch Elementary and Eldorado Elementary merge beginning in the fall of 2026. The mascot for the paired school will be the Owls, and the school's colors will be blue and gold. Possible logos are being developed in a collaborative way and will be presented for student and family input in early 2026.
The name, mascot and colors were chosen by the school communities through a collaborative process.
September 24, 2025, Community Meeting
Additional resources from the meeting include:
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The slideshow presentation
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Renderings of the building upgrades
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The school name, colors, and mascot survey
October 22, 2025, Community Meeting
Additional resources from the meeting include:
-
The slideshow presentation
-
Renderings of the building upgrades
-
The school name, colors, and mascot survey
Timeline
Other Pertinent Information for This Pairing
Traffic and Transportation:
- Saddle Ranch and Eldorado are in close proximity by car (2.5 miles, 6-7 minutes) and by walkable open space (1 mile, 20 minutes) with no major (4 lane) roadways to traverse. No traffic mitigation needed.
- One additional bus route will be needed for Saddle Ranch Elementary students to go to Eldorado Elementary, for those students living, in general, south and east of Saddle Ranch Elementary.
Saddle Ranch Elementary Building Use:
- The Saddle Ranch building will be maintained and available for community use (playground, fields, etc.) in addition to housing school district programming (to be determined during school year 2025-2026).
Student Programming:
- Ensure the sustainability of full-time Specials teachers to support a well-rounded curriculum and expand Specials programming (e.g., STEM, instrumental music) based on community input and student needs.
- Maintain consistent student support services, including academic intervention and mental health resources.
- Integrate Significant Support Needs (SSN) programs while maintaining Affective Needs (AN) programming (K-3) to support students from both schools.
- Increase Special Education, English Language Development (ELD), and Gifted and Talented (GT) programming to better serve all students.
- Expand preschool programming from one to two classrooms to meet early childhood education demands.
- Continue to make available Before and After School Programming (BASE).
Leadership:
- Julie Crawford, who currently serves as the principal at Eldorado Elementary, has accepted the position of Founding Principal for Elementary 51 in the Sterling Ranch community, one of the new elementary schools in the Douglas County School District. She will remain at Eldorado for the 2025-2026 school year, then transition to Elementary 51.
- Allison Hawk, who currently serves as the principal at Saddle Ranch Elementary, will serve as the principal of the new, combined Eldorado/Saddle Ranch school community, effective for the 2026-2027 school year.
Boundary Adjustment Recommendation:
- Homes north of Kendrick Castillo Way moved from Eldorado Elementary to Northridge Elementary (currently nine students). Current Eldorado Elementary families in this area will have the option of staying at Eldorado Elementary or enrolling in North Ridge Elementary.
Future Use of Saddle Ranch Elementary School
Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, the Saddle Ranch Elementary School building will house DCSD's Child Find and Bridge Programs located in Highlands Ranch. These are complementary programs that are typically housed together. Because our Child Find services in Highlands Ranch are currently located in Eldorado Elementary, and Bridge currently occupies leased space in Highlands Ranch, the move of both to Saddle Ranch, which is about 5 minutes closer to Eldorado and otherwise linked via the pairing, makes sense.
To learn more about the program coming to the Saddle Ranch Elementary building, community members can attend an upcoming community meeting:
Thursday, January 8 | 5:30 p.m.
Saddle Ranch Elementary
If you have any questions, please contact Steve Colella, DCSD Chief of Staff.
Prior Meeting Regarding Use of Saddle Ranch Building
DCSD hosted a community meeting about the future use of the Saddle Ranch Elementary Building on November 13, 2025. Here is a slideshow presentation from the meeting.