Stehlik Elementary

Stehlik Elementary is a public school in Houston, TX, serving 683 students in grades 1-5 within the Aldine Independent School District (Isd), where over 91% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The school has historically ranked in the bottom 10-20% of Texas elementary schools, currently sitting at the 12th percentile, with STAAR scores in math, reading, and science consistently below both district and state averages.

What makes Stehlik stand out is the stark contrast with nearby schools serving similar student populations. For example, Thompson Elementary (1.3 miles away) ranks in the 71st percentile, while Bussey Elementary and Odom Elementary both rank in the 50th percentile. The gap is most dramatic in math: only 28% of Stehlik’s 4th graders were proficient, compared to 67% at Carroll Elementary and 64% at Thompson. In 5th-grade science, just 13% of Stehlik students were proficient, while nearby Goodman Elementary achieved 35%. This suggests the challenges are not solely due to demographics, as neighboring schools with similar poverty rates are performing much better.

There are a few bright spots. Stehlik’s Spanish-language STAAR program outperforms district and state averages in both reading and math, indicating a potential strength in bilingual education. However, performance varies widely across grade levels, with 5th-grade reading (44%) and math (38%) being the strongest, while 3rd-grade math (22%) and 4th-grade reading (27%) lag far behind. The school’s per-student spending ($12,020) is in line with peers, so the issue likely lies in how resources are used rather than a lack of funding. For parents, this means Stehlik faces systemic academic challenges, but the success of nearby schools and the bilingual program offer hope for improvement.