Palacios Junior Senior High School

Palacios Junior Senior High School in Palacios, TX, serves 655 students in grades 6 through 12 in a coastal community where nearly 70% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The school has seen a steady decline in its state ranking over the past decade, now sitting in the 44th percentile (2 stars) for three consecutive years, which signals a period of stagnation in overall academic performance compared to other Texas schools.

When compared to nearby Tidehaven High School, the performance gaps are significant. In the 2025-2026 school year, only 31.73% of Palacios students were proficient in Algebra I, compared to 64.58% at Tidehaven, and Biology proficiency was 57.43% versus 83.33%. This pattern extends to English Language Arts, with Palacios trailing in both English I and English II. The Palacios Independent School District (Isd) ranks 600th out of 951 districts (37th percentile), while Tidehaven Independent School District (Isd) ranks 42nd (96th percentile), indicating the performance gap is systemic at the district level.

Despite these challenges, there are notable bright spots. Palacios consistently performs at or above the state average in U.S. History, with 72.78% proficiency in 2025-2026. However, the school shows a troubling pattern of declining support for high-need subgroups, particularly English Language Learners, whose ranking dropped from the 31st percentile to the 9th percentile in one year. The school maintains a strong graduation rate above 90%, but this contrasts with low proficiency on state assessments, especially in Math, suggesting students may not be fully prepared for college or careers upon graduation. The school also shows inconsistent performance with gifted students, who ranked in the 95th percentile in 2022-2023 but dropped to the 53rd percentile by 2025-2026.