Burnet Elementary

Burnet Elementary is a PK-4 public school in the Galveston Independent School District (Isd) serving 562 students in a high-poverty area, where over 92% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school has historically faced significant academic challenges, ranking in the bottom 15% of Texas elementary schools, but recent data reveals important bright spots and areas of progress that parents should know about.

One of the most encouraging findings is the dramatic improvement for Hispanic students, whose ranking jumped from the 14th percentile to the 37th percentile over the past three years—a 23-point gain that suggests targeted interventions are working. Additionally, Burnet’s Spanish-language program stands out as a relative strength: 4th graders taking the Spanish STAAR achieved 46.67% proficiency in Reading and 50% in Math, both exceeding state averages for Spanish-language tests. However, performance remains inconsistent, with 3rd-grade English Reading proficiency dropping from 39.73% to 26.47% in the most recent year, indicating the school hasn’t yet achieved sustainable growth across all areas.

When comparing Burnet to nearby schools, the differences are striking. Just 1.8 miles away, Oppe Elementary serves a much lower-poverty population (56% free/reduced lunch) and ranks in the 78th percentile, while Parker Elementary (84% poverty) ranks in the 36th percentile. Most notably, Ambassadors Preparatory Academy, a charter school just 0.4 miles away serving a similarly high-poverty population (84%), achieves far better results at the 71st percentile. This proves that high performance is possible with the right strategies, and Burnet’s path forward likely involves studying successful models like Ambassadors Prep while continuing to build on the promising gains seen in its Hispanic student subgroup and bilingual program.