Summary:
Port Arthur, Texas, is home to 17 public schools serving students from elementary through high school, spread across the Port Arthur Independent School District (ISD), the Bob Hope School, and the Tekoa Academy of Accelerated Studies STEM School, with the vast majority of schools serving a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students.
The most important finding for parents is the stark performance gap between the charter schools and the traditional district. The Bob Hope High School and Bob Hope School (Middle) are top performers, with the high school boasting a 99.2% graduation rate and the middle school earning a 5-star rating. The Tekoa Academy of Accelerated Studies high school, despite a very small enrollment, achieved a 5-star rating with perfect proficiency scores in Algebra I, Biology, and U.S. History. In contrast, schools within the Port Arthur ISD, such as Port Acres Elementary and Dequeen Elementary, are among the lowest-performing in the state, with critically low test scores. A bright spot in the district is Houston Elementary, which has shown impressive growth to become a 4-star school.
A key takeaway is that spending per student does not predict success. The highest-spending schools, like Tekoa Academy Of Accelerated Studies (Elementary) and Dequeen Elementary, are among the lowest-performing, while the lowest-spending Bob Hope campuses are the highest-performing. Additionally, small schools like the Tekoa Academy high school show extreme year-to-year ranking swings due to their small student body, making it hard to judge long-term quality. For parents, the data clearly shows that the Bob Hope and Tekoa charter networks are delivering far stronger academic outcomes than the traditional Port Arthur ISD schools.
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