Summary:
The Excelsior Independent School District (Isd) is a single-school, rural district in Texas serving just 86 students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade at Excelsior Elementary, a small campus that combines elementary and middle school grades.
Despite a very low student-teacher ratio of 7.8 to 1 and high per-student spending of $17,885—advantages that typically support strong academics—the school's overall performance is below the state average, ranking in the 20th percentile statewide. The school shows a clear split in subject performance: reading scores in grades 6 through 8 meet or exceed state averages, and the school achieved a remarkable 100% proficiency on high school-level Biology and English I End-of-Course exams. However, math is a persistent weakness, especially in the lower elementary grades, where 4th and 5th-grade math proficiency (21.43% and 15.38%) was less than half the state average. Social studies is also a challenge, with 8th-grade proficiency at just 14.29%.
Because of the tiny student population, test scores can swing dramatically from year to year—for example, 8th-grade math jumped from 16.67% proficiency to 71.43% in just one year—making it difficult to identify clear trends. The school's ranking has improved from the 9th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 20th percentile in 2025-2026, and it maintains a 0% dropout rate. For parents, this means the school offers very small class sizes and strong reading instruction in upper grades, but families should be aware of significant challenges in elementary math and social studies, and understand that year-to-year performance can be highly variable due to the small number of students tested.
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