Summary:
The Bells Independent School District (Isd) in Bells, Texas, serves 1,007 students across three schools—Bells Elementary, Pritchard J H, and Bells High School—and is a highly ranked district, placing in the 87th percentile in Texas with a 4-star rating.
Pritchard J H stands out as the district's top performer, achieving a 95th percentile ranking (5 stars) in 2023-2024 and maintaining a 4-star rating. Its math program is exceptional: 100% of students taking the Algebra I End-of-Course exam were proficient, far above the state average. Bells High School also excels, with a 97.1% graduation rate, a 0.3% dropout rate, and strong science scores—88.46% proficiency in Biology versus the state's 70.51%. Bells Elementary is a solid performer with a consistent 4-star rating, though it shows variation by grade: 4th-grade math reaches 85.9% proficiency, while 3rd-grade math lags at 37.14%. The elementary school serves a higher proportion of economically disadvantaged students (45.41%) compared to the middle school (35.06%) and high school (33.65%), yet achieves commendable results with the lowest spending per student ($8,689).
A key takeaway is the district's effective "math pipeline," with strong performance from 4th grade through middle school, culminating in perfect Algebra I scores. However, a "6th-grade slump" is evident, with reading and math scores dipping below state averages before recovering in 7th and 8th grades. Science is a district-wide strength, with all three schools outperforming state averages, leading to the high school's exceptional Biology results. Overall, Bells ISD appears to develop students over time, with mixed elementary scores giving way to strong middle and high school performance, making it a district where students often become "late bloomers."
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