Eastern Hills High School

Eastern Hills High School in Fort Worth, TX, is a large traditional public high school serving 1,189 students in grades 9-12 within the Fort Worth Independent School District (Isd), where about 89% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating very high economic need. The school has consistently ranked in the bottom 12-16% of Texas high schools over the past decade, with critically low proficiency rates in core subjects like Algebra I (only 12.5% proficient in 2025-2026) and English I, though it shows a relative strength in U.S. History (52.59% proficient, closer to the state average). Its graduation rate has improved slightly to 77%, but the dropout rate remains persistently high at around 4.3-7.0%, roughly double the district average.

Compared to nearby schools, Eastern Hills performs slightly better than Polytechnic High School (7th percentile) and Bob E Griggs High School (9th percentile), but is dramatically outperformed by Young Men's Leadership Academy (YMLA), located just 1.6 miles away. YMLA, a smaller single-gender academy with a lower student-teacher ratio (11.2:1 vs. 15.4:1), achieves a 96.7% graduation rate and 70-84% proficiency on core exams, despite serving a similar high-poverty demographic. This suggests that school size and structure may be more impactful than spending, as Eastern Hills spends about $12,000 per student—higher than Polytechnic ($10,455) but with far lower results.

An interesting finding is the school's uneven performance with student subgroups. Its Special Education program ranked in the 68th percentile statewide in 2024-2025, indicating a targeted strength, though this dropped to the 22nd percentile in 2025-2026. In contrast, its Gifted and Talented students perform in the bottom 5-9% of the state, suggesting the school struggles to challenge its highest-achieving students. The low Algebra I proficiency rates also point to students entering high school severely underprepared in math, which can affect success in higher-level courses. For parents, this school may offer some support for special education students but faces significant challenges in foundational academics and keeping students engaged through graduation.