Project Chrysalis Middle

Project Chrysalis Middle is a small public school in Houston, TX, serving 241 students in grades 6-8 as part of the Houston Independent School District (Isd). This school stands out as a high-performing outlier, consistently earning a 5-star rating and ranking in the top 3-4% of all Texas middle schools, despite serving a student body where approximately 85% of students are economically disadvantaged.

What truly sets Project Chrysalis apart is its exceptional academic performance, which dramatically surpasses both district and state averages. For the 2025-2026 school year, the school ranked 66th out of 2,335 middle schools in Texas (97th percentile), placing it in a completely different tier than nearby schools. For comparison, Baylor College Of Medicine Academy At Ryan ranked 372nd (84th percentile), while Navarro Middle, located just 0.5 miles away, ranked 1,238th (47th percentile). The school's STAAR test scores are dramatically higher across all subjects—for example, 8th-grade reading proficiency is 80-89% compared to the district's 55-59%, and 8th-grade social studies proficiency is 64% versus the district's 29%. The school also maintains a 0.0% dropout rate, a stark contrast to the district average of around 3.8%.

Project Chrysalis is particularly effective at serving high-need student subgroups, ranking 11th in the state for low socio-economic status students and 10th for at-risk students. This demonstrates that the school's impact is not predetermined by its student body composition. Interestingly, the school achieves these results with lower per-student spending ($8,175) than many nearby peers, suggesting highly efficient resource allocation. While the school excels with nearly every subgroup, its performance with gifted and talented students (83rd percentile) represents a potential area for growth. After a slight dip during the post-pandemic period, the school demonstrated remarkable resilience, bouncing back to its elite 5-star status and maintaining it consistently.