Summary:
The Waco Independent School District (Isd) oversees 15 elementary schools serving grades PK-5 (with Lake Air Montessori School extending to grade 8) in a high-poverty urban area where the average free/reduced lunch rate is 90.5% and the district ranks in the 5th percentile statewide.
Two magnet schools stand out dramatically. Hillcrest Pds Magnet is the top performer, consistently ranking in the top half of Texas elementary schools (49th-51st percentile) with 63.49% of 3rd graders proficient in Reading versus the district's 27.36%. Lake Air Montessori School also excels, with 88.24% proficiency in Algebra I. At the other end, Dean Highland Elementary, South Waco Elementary, and J H Hines Elementary consistently rank in the bottom 1-2% of Texas schools, with proficiency rates often below 10%. Provident Heights Elementary shows notable improvement, jumping from the 8th to 19th percentile, while Cedar Ridge Elementary shows modest gains.
Key metrics reveal stark contrasts. The highest-spending schools (J H Hines Elementary at $13,913 and West Avenue Elementary at $13,956) are among the lowest-performing, while the top-performing Hillcrest Pds Magnet spends the least ($10,658). Student-teacher ratios also vary, with Lake Air Montessori School at 13.4:1 and J H Hines Elementary at 19.4:1. Science proficiency is a district-wide weakness, with the 2024-2025 average at just 12.25% compared to the state's 29.57%. The Spanish STAAR program shows mixed results, with Bell's Hill Elementary Spanish-language test-takers sometimes outperforming English-language peers in Reading, but Spanish Math scores are often near zero.
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