Best Public Schools in Amarillo, TX

The Amarillo, Texas area is served by 83 schools spanning elementary through high school, primarily within the Amarillo Independent School District (Isd) and the Canyon Independent School District (Isd), with smaller districts like Bushland Independent School District (Isd) and River Road Independent School District (Isd) also contributing.

There is a clear performance gap between the two largest districts. Canyon Independent School District (Isd) consistently outperforms Amarillo Independent School District (Isd), with schools like West Plains High School and Arden Road Elementary ranking in the top 20-30% of the state. However, Amarillo Independent School District (Isd) has its own "pockets of excellence," such as Woodlands Elementary, which ranks in the 97th percentile, and Lorenzo De Zavala Middle, which ranks in the 90th percentile. In contrast, schools like Hamlet Elementary and George Washington Carver Elementary Academy face significant challenges, ranking in the 2nd and 9th percentiles respectively. The alternative schools, Richard Milburn Academy Amarillo and North Heights Alter, serve a critical population but show extremely low test scores and high dropout rates.

A standout finding is Sunrise Elementary, which defies the strong correlation between poverty and low performance by ranking in the 87th percentile despite a very high free/reduced lunch rate. The data also reveals a "spending paradox," where high per-student spending does not guarantee high performance; for example, Hamlet Elementary spends over $14,500 per student but is the lowest-performing school, while Woodlands Elementary spends less than $9,000 and is the top performer. Additionally, many middle schools with low overall rankings, like Travis Middle and Houston Middle, achieve near-perfect proficiency in Algebra I, suggesting a targeted focus on advanced math for select students.