Summary
Emmott Elementary in Houston, TX, is a PK-5 school serving 583 students within the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (Isd), where over 80% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, placing it in a high-needs community. The school has consistently ranked in the bottom third of Texas elementary schools over the past decade, with its most recent data showing it at the 20th percentile—its lowest point—and significantly underperforming compared to nearby schools like Hairgrove Elementary, which ranks in the 85th percentile despite serving an even higher percentage of students from low-income families.
The most critical academic weakness at Emmott is in mathematics, where proficiency rates across 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades are roughly half the district average and well below state levels. For example, only 21.9% of 3rd graders were proficient in math, compared to 43.68% in the district and 44.33% statewide. In contrast, reading scores are closer to state averages, particularly in 5th grade (51.81% vs. 58.47% state), suggesting that while literacy instruction has some effectiveness, math instruction needs immediate and intensive intervention. The school’s per-student spending ($10,766) and student-teacher ratio (14.7) are in line with peers like Post Elementary and Willbern Elementary, indicating that resources are not the primary issue.
A bright spot is the school’s past success with English Language Learner (ELL) students, who ranked in the 73rd percentile statewide in 2023-2024, earning a 4-star rating. However, the most recent year saw a broad decline across nearly all student subgroups, including male students dropping to the 10th percentile and African American students to the 7th percentile. The success of Hairgrove Elementary, which achieves high performance with a similar demographic profile, demonstrates that school-level strategies can overcome socioeconomic challenges, offering a potential model for Emmott’s turnaround.
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