Talkington School For Young Women Leaders

Talkington School For Young Women Leaders is a public, all-female magnet school in Lubbock, TX, serving 450 students in grades 6 through 12 within the Lubbock Independent School District (Isd). This school is a standout academic institution, consistently earning a 5-star rating and ranking in the top 5% of all high schools in Texas for nearly a decade, despite the district itself ranking in the bottom half of the state.

The most defining feature of Talkington is the sheer scale of its academic achievement compared to nearby schools. For example, in English I and II reading, Talkington scores 96% proficient, while the district average is about 52%. In 8th grade math, the school achieves 92.5% proficiency, a staggering 55-percentage-point advantage over the district average of 37.8%. This success is not limited to one group; the school serves a diverse student body where over 40% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, yet it achieves results that rival the top schools in the state. The contrast is especially stark when compared to Estacado High School, located just 0.38 miles away, which ranks in the 13th percentile and has a 27.7% proficiency rate in English I, compared to Talkington's 96%.

Talkington also maintains a near-perfect graduation rate of 97.7% and a negligible dropout rate of 0.5%, a dramatic difference from nearby schools like Dupre Academy High School (73.6% graduation, 12.7% dropout) and Premier H S - Lubbock (Briercroft) (19.9% dropout). An interesting finding is that the school's English Language Learner students recently ranked #1 in the entire state, suggesting a highly effective program was implemented. While the school excels for its average student, its Gifted and Talented students rank lower, possibly because the rigorous curriculum elevates all students to a high standard rather than focusing on a small elite group.