The Excel Center (For Adults)

The Excel Center (For Adults) in Lockhart, TX, is a unique high school serving 571 students in grades 9-12, operating as its own single-school district, and is specifically designed for adult learners seeking a second chance at earning their diploma.

This school faces extraordinary challenges that set it apart from every other high school in the area. The most critical metric is its graduation rate, which was just 8.6% for the class of 2024, compared to Lockhart High School (2.9% dropout rate) and Lockhart Pride High School (83.7% graduation rate). The school's dropout rate is a staggering 54.5%, meaning more than half of its students leave without graduating. This is likely due to the immense life pressures adult learners face—balancing work, family, and other responsibilities—rather than a reflection of teaching quality. Interestingly, the school shows a surprising strength in Biology, with 50% of students proficient, outperforming nearby alternative schools like Live Oak Academy (22.22%). However, Algebra I is a major weakness, with only 12.96% proficient, well below the state average of 54.03%.

A key insight is that the school's larger campus may be less effective than its smaller sibling, The Excel Center For Adults - Lockhart, which serves just 118 students and boasts a significantly better graduation rate (34.1%) and lower dropout rate (40.5%). This suggests that a smaller, more intimate environment may be crucial for supporting adult learners. The main campus also has a high student-teacher ratio of 23.9:1, which is much higher than Lockhart Pride High School (7.4:1) and Trinity Charter Schools - Lockhart Campus (6.5:1). While per-student spending ($9,938) is in line with traditional schools like Luling High School ($9,948), the vastly different outcomes highlight that this population requires more than average funding—it needs targeted support services, flexible scheduling, and wraparound resources to address the non-academic barriers to graduation.