Animas Valley Elementary Home

Our goal
at AVE is
every student,
every day.
Principal & assistant principal welcome a student

About Us

Animas Valley Elementary is a PreK-5 school located in a beautiful valley just north of Durango, Colorado. Our school is grounded in a School Family model. Through building relationships, we support one another's academic and social emotional growth. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn, and we take pride in our ability to persevere. We utilize structures for coaching self-regulation, class meetings as a venue for democratic problem solving, and we tackle challenges as well as celebrate our success together. Our family culture can be felt throughout our school.
student and teacher "high-five"
Where we’re located
Durango School District map
school building

Mission

Our vision is to guide learners as we develop  the tools and mindsets to continually seek and understand the world and ourselves. Learners will demonstrate confidence, compassion and value diversity. Everyone will leave our school with the ability to apply, transfer and reflect on concepts because we are motivated to ask questions and discover solutions.

School & District News

Five smiling children in purple shirts proudly holding a 2025 trophy, all wearing medals around their necks

Riverview Elementary School fifth graders win district's first regional Battle of the Books

At the Impact Career Innovation Center on March 4, the chatter of excited elementary students filled the halls as 30 teams from across Southwest Colorado prepared to put their reading skills to the test. But this was no ordinary quiz — it was the first-ever Battle of the Books hosted by Durango School District, and for the third through fifth graders participating, it was both a celebration of literature and a test of teamwork, grit, and recall.
A decorative graphic with floral illustrations and the text

Spring Break is March 17-21

Spring Break for Durango School District schools is Monday, March 17, through Friday, March 21. All schools will be closed. Regular class schedules will resume on Monday, March 24.
Abre logo

Big news: Abre is coming soon

We’re thrilled to announce that after Spring Break, families of secondary students will have access to Abre – a powerful tool designed to bring all your student’s important school information together in one place. From grades and assignments to key updates, Abre makes it easier than ever to stay connected and engaged in your student’s education.
Show All News
Michol Brammer, Principal of Animas Valley Elementary School

Principal's Message

Welcome Husky students and families! We have a School Family Culture created through the implementation of social/emotional learning structures that promote increased emotional intelligence. Our school has other distinguishing characteristics, including: Thinking Strategies Institute-trained teachers; Workshop model classrooms;  Orton-Gillingham-trained teachers; and flexible grouping.   – Michol Brammer, Principal

Events

Show All Events
Engineer Mountain

Quality of Life

Durango is a beautiful place to live and work. It is located at 6,512 feet elevation in Southwest Colorado near the Four Corners region. Families who live here enjoy a historic steam train, ski resort, rivers, vibrant downtown, bike trails, sky-high “fourteener” mountains, and four distinct seasons with an average of 266 sunny days per year. We welcome new families and new staff members, and we offer excellent benefits and competitive salaries. 
Join our team

Accessibility Statement

It is the goal of Durango School District 9-R that the information on this website be accessible to individuals with visual, hearing, or cognitive disabilities. Good faith efforts are being made to ensure that our website complies with web accessibility standards.

Most pages on our site are available in HTML format, which can be read by screen readers. Some documents are in Adobe PDF format, requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded for free from the Adobe website. Additionally, some documents are in Google Docs, and Google Forms. Most modern browsers and screen readers can access Google-based documents. More information about Google web products accessibility can be found on the Google Accessibility website.

In order to ensure that Durango School District websites are accessible to everyone in our community, including those with disabilities, we are using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.

If you cannot access any page(s) on our site, please email us at [email protected]. Include the location of the webpage/document, your name, email address, and phone number so we can provide the information in another format, and address the issue.