Best Public Schools in Livingston, TX

The city of Livingston, Texas, is served by the Livingston Independent School District (Isd), which oversees seven public schools—four elementary schools, one middle school, and two high schools—educating approximately 3,516 students in a community facing significant socioeconomic challenges, with free/reduced lunch rates ranging from 48% to nearly 80% across campuses.

For parents, the standout school in the district is Timber Creek Elementary, which consistently achieves top academic results despite 73% of its students being economically disadvantaged, outperforming both district and state averages in subjects like math and reading. In contrast, Creekside Elementary struggles with similar poverty levels but much lower test scores, highlighting how school leadership and teaching quality can make a powerful difference. At the middle school level, Livingston J H presents a paradox: its advanced Algebra I students achieve elite proficiency rates near 88%, yet general math scores for 6th through 8th graders lag behind state averages, suggesting a strong program for top students but challenges for the majority. Among high schools, Livingston High School is a large, comprehensive campus with a solid 91.4% graduation rate and test scores near state averages, while Livingston H S Academy is a small alternative school serving at-risk students, with a 76.7% graduation rate and critically low test scores, reflecting the intensive resources needed for its high-need population.

Key takeaways for families include the district's overall 2-star rating (ranked 581 out of 951 in Texas) and the wide variance in elementary school performance, with Cedar Grove Elementary showing improvement to a 3-star rating while Pine Ridge Pri serves younger students. Per-student spending is similar across most schools (around $10,600 to $10,900), except for Livingston H S Academy at $16,146, and student-teacher ratios range from 13.4:1 to 17.8:1. The data shows that socioeconomic status does not determine success, as Timber Creek Elementary proves, but inconsistent performance across elementary schools points to uneven instructional quality within the district.