Florida Mesa Elementary Home

2022 Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award recipient
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About Us

Florida Mesa is a thriving school community that serves approximately 280 students preschool through fifth grade. The staff is highly committed to supporting all students reach their maximum potential.
Learn more About Us
1st grade class
Where we’re located
Durango School District map
school building

Mission

The mission of Florida Mesa Elementary, an innovative learning community, committed to integrity and educational rigor, is to inspire, and develop compassionate, open-minded inquirers, who actively contribute to a better world, by guaranteeing equitable opportunities in a safe, healthy, and diverse environment.  

School & District News

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Did you receive the emergency message on April 22?

On Tuesday, April 22, at 12:39 p.m., Durango School District sent out an emergency message to our entire school community about Boys and Girls Club closing that afternoon due to a power outage. If you did not receive the message, please complete the following steps to ensure you receive emergency messaging in future.
A group of friends laughs together

Cook Center Mental Health Series: May 2025 classes + watch recordings on your own schedule

Need help in supporting your child's well-being? We are offering FREE live webinars on Monday-Thursday evenings throughout the school year, and you can always watch previously recorded classes on your own time by visiting the Cook Center's full content library. Live webinar topics in May include: how to motivate your child, mindfulness for improved mental health, suicide prevention, protecting your child on social media, emotional regulation, video game addiction, stopping bullying cycles, and more.
A young child focuses intently while stacking colorful wooden blocks to build a structure during playtime.

Rising kindergarteners: Register now for 2025-26 + sign up for Kindergarten Readiness Screening

If your child is entering kindergarten in the 2025-26 school year, be sure to register soon so you don't miss out on vital information over the summer. We also welcome you to participate in our Kindergarten Readiness Screenings this month, so you can learn more about your child's unique developmental strengths and areas for growth, plus how to set your child up for kindergarten success in the fall.
A group of friends laughs together

Cook Center Mental Health Series: April 2025 classes + watch recordings on your own schedule

Need help in supporting your child's well-being? We are offering FREE live webinars on Monday-Thursday evenings throughout the school year, and you can always watch previously recorded classes on your own time by visiting the Cook Center's full content library. Live webinar topics this month include: effects of screen time, helping your child succeed, substance use and vaping, building confidence, depression, school avoidance, talking with your child about pornography, and much more.
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Principal Shannon Morris with award

Principal's Message

Florida Mesa Elementary School was awarded the 2022 Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award, for demonstrating exceptional student growth.
“We are extremely proud of our students and staff for their hard work, as we have been working to close academic achievement gaps as a result of COVID-related impacts,” said Shannon Morris, principal of Florida Mesa Elementary School. “We have created learning environments focused on growth and academic achievement.”

Events

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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. 
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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.