Summary:
Gladewater Independent School District (Isd) is home to a single middle school, Gladewater Middle, which serves grades 6 through 8 with 371 students in a high-needs area where over three-quarters of students are economically disadvantaged.
Gladewater Middle presents a stark contrast in academic performance. The school excels in advanced math, with 60% of students proficient in Algebra I in 2025-2026, significantly outperforming the state average of 54.03%. However, it struggles profoundly in grade-level math, particularly 7th grade, where only 17.11% of students were proficient compared to the state average of 29.41%. Reading proficiency is a consistent weakness across all grades, with scores 5 to 20 percentage points below state averages. The school's state ranking has declined from the 40th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 21st percentile in 2025-2026, reflecting these challenges. The student-teacher ratio is 15.4:1, and spending per student is $10,044, with a 0.0% dropout rate.
The key takeaway for parents is that Gladewater Middle is a school of extremes. It successfully accelerates a select group of students into advanced Algebra I, but the majority of students are not meeting grade-level proficiency in core subjects like reading and math. The high rate of economic disadvantage is a clear factor, but the declining state ranking indicates that current strategies are not reversing the trend. The primary focus for improvement must be on raising grade-level proficiency in reading and mathematics for the general student population, making it a school with both notable strengths and significant areas for growth.
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