Summary
Idea Najim Academy is a K-5 elementary school in San Antonio, TX, serving 540 students in the 78220 zip code as part of the Idea Public Schools charter network, where over 93% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The school is in a state of crisis, with its state ranking plummeting from the 41st percentile in 2021-2022 to the 1st percentile (0 stars) for the 2025-2026 school year, making it one of the lowest-performing elementary schools in Texas. This dramatic decline is most evident in mathematics, where proficiency rates are roughly one-quarter to one-third of the state average—for example, only 11.58% of 3rd graders and 11.54% of 4th graders met math standards, compared to state averages of 44.33% and 49.28%, respectively.
Reading scores are a relative weakness but not as severe, with 5th grade reading proficiency at 36.51% versus the state average of 58.47%. The school’s challenges appear school-specific rather than district-wide, as its sister school, Idea Eastside Academy, just 2.4 miles away and serving a similar demographic, significantly outperforms Idea Najim in nearly every subject—for instance, 65% of 5th graders at Idea Eastside were proficient in reading compared to 36.51% at Idea Najim. The school also has a high student-teacher ratio of 22:1, higher than nearby traditional public schools like Hopkins Elementary (16.1:1) and Pecan Valley Elementary (13.7:1), which may limit individualized support.
Historically, the school showed a notable strength with its "At Risk" students, who ranked in the 65th percentile in 2021-2022, but that success has not been sustained. Spanish-language STAAR test results are inconsistent, with 0% proficiency in 3rd and 4th grade Spanish reading and math, though 5th grade Spanish reading reached 31.25%. Per-student spending at $8,908 is below many nearby schools, such as Cameron Elementary ($16,117), but higher than Sinclair Elementary ($9,228), which outperforms Idea Najim significantly, indicating that funding alone does not explain the poor performance. Urgent, systemic intervention is needed to reverse this trend.
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