Summary:
The Refugio Independent School District (Isd) is served by a single middle school, Refugio J H, which educates 134 students in grades 6 through 8 in a small, rural community where nearly 65% of students are economically disadvantaged.
Refugio J H presents a dramatic "two-schools-in-one" profile. On one hand, its advanced math program is exceptional: 92.31% of 8th graders taking Algebra I were proficient in 2025-2026, a staggering 70 points above the state average. On the other hand, the school struggles significantly in core subjects. Only 12% of 8th graders were proficient in Social Studies, and 6th-grade math proficiency languished at just 15-16.7% over two years. The school benefits from an enviable 8.5:1 student-teacher ratio and above-average per-student spending of $12,991, yet its state ranking dropped from the 35th percentile to the 25th percentile in one year. This suggests that while resources are available, they are not translating into consistent, broad-based academic success.
Performance is highly volatile, a common challenge for small schools. For example, 7th-grade reading proficiency jumped 20 points to 59.52%, while 6th-grade reading plummeted 32 points to just 22.5% in the same year. This instability makes it hard to identify clear trends. The school's greatest strength is its targeted support for top math students, but its greatest weakness is a systemic failure to build a strong math foundation in the early middle school grades. The dropout rate is a perfect 0.0%, indicating excellent student retention, but the school must address its uneven academic performance to ensure all students are prepared for high school.
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