Best Public Schools in Cleveland, TX

The city of Cleveland, Texas, is served by 20 schools across three districts—Cleveland Independent School District (ISD), International Leadership of Texas (ILTexas), and Tarkington Independent School District (ISD)—spanning elementary through high school, with a high level of economic disadvantage reflected in free or reduced lunch rates of 88% to 97% for most schools.

The standout performer in the area is Tarkington High School, which boasts a 98.3% graduation rate and a 0.0% dropout rate, far exceeding Cleveland High School (88.4% graduation, 2.7% dropout). Tarkington Middle School also leads, ranking in the 26th percentile and outperforming Cleveland Middle in 8th-grade Reading (53.08% proficient vs. 31.06%) and Social Studies (23.08% vs. 8.97%). Within Cleveland ISD, Eastside Elementary is the top elementary school (26th percentile), with 57.29% of 3rd graders proficient in Reading. In contrast, Pine Burr Elementary is the lowest-ranked elementary (2nd percentile), with just 17.46% proficient in 3rd-grade Reading. The ILTexas charter network, while the highest-ranked district overall (39th percentile), has local campuses like Iltexas Msg Ramirez Elementary that rank in the 1st percentile, showing a stark internal disparity.

A bright spot is advanced math: Cleveland Middle and Santa Fe Middle achieve 80.73% and 70.51% proficiency in Algebra I among advanced 8th graders, exceeding the state average of 54.03%. However, systemic weaknesses persist in Science and Social Studies, with 5th-grade Science proficiency below 10% at most Cleveland ISD elementary schools. The Disciplinary Alternative Education Program spends $76,057 per student—over seven times the cost of a typical elementary school—yet lacks academic test data, while Frederick A Douglass Learning Academy has near-zero proficiency in core subjects like Algebra I (0%) and English I (6.67%). Overall, Tarkington ISD schools consistently outperform Cleveland ISD schools, likely due to lower poverty rates (49-70% free/reduced lunch vs. 88-97%), highlighting the critical role of socioeconomic factors in academic outcomes.