Summary:
The South San Antonio Independent School District (Isd) contains three middle schools—Robert C Zamora Middle, Alan B Shepard Middle, and Dwight Middle—serving grades 6 through 8 in a high-poverty area of Texas, where the district ranks in the bottom 10% of the state.
Robert C Zamora Middle stands out as the clear academic leader, earning a 2-star rating and ranking in the 33rd percentile—far ahead of its peers. It has the largest enrollment (655 students), the lowest dropout rate (0.4%), and the lowest poverty rate among the three schools. Zamora consistently outperforms the district average in nearly every subject, and its state ranking jumped significantly from the 18th to the 33rd percentile in one year, suggesting positive momentum. In contrast, Alan B Shepard Middle faces the highest economic disadvantage, with 97% of students receiving free or reduced lunch, and has the lowest test scores in most categories despite having the smallest class sizes. Dwight Middle is the most inconsistent performer, with the highest dropout rate (2.9%) and the lowest state ranking (6th percentile), yet it posted the district’s highest score in 8th Grade Science (41%) while scoring the lowest in 8th Grade Social Studies (18%).
A critical district-wide weakness is mathematics, with 6th Grade Math scores ranging from just 12% at Shepard to 32% at Zamora, well below the state average of 39%. However, an interesting anomaly is that students tracked into Algebra I perform relatively well, with Zamora reaching 44% proficiency, close to the state average. Spending per student is nearly uniform across the three schools (around $11,000), and the data strongly confirms that schools with lower poverty rates achieve better academic outcomes, highlighting the challenge of overcoming the achievement gap in this community.
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