Summary:
The Amarillo Independent School District (Isd) includes six high schools serving grades 9-12, ranging from large comprehensive campuses with over 2,000 students to small specialized academies, in a diverse urban area of the Texas Panhandle.
Amarillo High School stands out as the district's top performer, earning a 4-star rating and leading in four of five STAAR subjects, with the highest graduation rate at 97.1% and the lowest dropout rate among comprehensive schools. In contrast, Palo Duro High School is a notable outlier in Algebra I, where 61.11% of students were proficient—the highest in the district and above state averages—despite serving the highest percentage of economically disadvantaged students. Tascosa High School is the only other comprehensive school to exceed state averages in multiple subjects, while Caprock High School receives the least per-student funding despite having the second-highest poverty rate. The alternative schools serve distinct missions: North Heights Alter focuses on credit recovery with a 92.9% graduation rate but very low test scores, and Amtech Career Academy is a tiny career-focused school with a 0% dropout rate but no recent academic data.
Key metrics reveal wide disparities: state rankings range from Amarillo High in the 79th percentile to North Heights Alter in the 10th percentile, while free/reduced lunch percentages vary from 13.64% at Amtech to 87.07% at Palo Duro. Per-student spending among comprehensive schools ranges from $9,131 at Caprock to $10,301 at Palo Duro, though alternative schools show extreme outliers due to small enrollments. Overall, Amarillo High is a clear academic leader, but Palo Duro's Algebra I success demonstrates that high-poverty schools can achieve excellence in targeted areas, offering a potential model for the district.
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