Carter-Riverside High School

Carter-Riverside High School is a comprehensive public high school in Fort Worth, TX, serving 1,039 students in grades 9-12 as part of the Fort Worth Independent School District (Isd), where over 90% of students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

While the school has faced academic challenges, it shows clear strengths that set it apart from nearby neighborhood schools. In Biology, Carter-Riverside consistently outperforms its direct peers, with 49.83% of students proficient compared to just 27.51% at Polytechnic High School and 37.26% at Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School. The school's graduation rate of 84.8% is above the district average of 82.6% and significantly higher than Polytechnic's 72.1%. Additionally, the dropout rate has dropped dramatically from 8.7% to just 2.2% in two years, now below the district average of 3.1%. These positive trends suggest the school is making real progress in keeping students on track to graduate, even as it works to improve test scores.

The biggest academic hurdle is Algebra I, where only 8.49% of students are proficient compared to 54.03% statewide. This foundational challenge is a key reason for the school's low overall ranking. It's important to note that Carter-Riverside is a standard neighborhood school, unlike the high-performing magnet schools in the district like Texas Academy Of Biomedical and Im Terrell Academy For Stem And Vpa, which draw from a selective pool and achieve much higher test scores and graduation rates near 99%. For parents considering Carter-Riverside, the school offers a supportive environment with improving graduation and dropout rates, though families should be aware of the ongoing need for academic support, particularly in math.