Summary:
The three middle schools in the Cedar Hill Independent School District (Isd) serve grades 6-8 and present a stark contrast in performance, with Cedar Hill Collegiate Academy standing out as a high-performing outlier while Bessie Coleman Middle and W S Permenter Middle face significant academic challenges.
Cedar Hill Collegiate Academy is the clear standout, ranking in the 87th percentile statewide with reading proficiency at 85.8% and math proficiency at 53.5%—roughly double or triple the rates of its district peers. It achieves these results while spending less per student ($8,508) than the other two schools, which spend over $9,100 each. In contrast, Bessie Coleman Middle and W S Permenter Middle both rank near the 20th percentile, with average reading proficiency around 42% and math proficiency around 20%. A fascinating exception is W S Permenter Middle, where 93.75% of students taking Algebra I scored proficient—far exceeding the state average of 47%—despite very low overall math scores in other grades. This suggests a highly effective advanced math program for a select group of students.
The district as a whole ranks in the 28th percentile, indicating systemic challenges. The performance gap between Cedar Hill Collegiate Academy and the other two schools is dramatic, with the Collegiate Academy also having a lower percentage of economically disadvantaged students (41.74%) compared to over 74% at the other schools. This creates a "tale of two systems" within the same district, where one school excels while the others struggle in core subjects like reading, math, science, and social studies. For parents, this means school choice within the district can have a profound impact on a child's academic trajectory, with Cedar Hill Collegiate Academy offering a clear path to college readiness through advanced coursework, while the other two schools require targeted intervention to improve foundational skills.
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