Mineral Wells High School

Mineral Wells High School in Mineral Wells, TX, is a large alternative school serving 3,275 students in grades 9-12 within the Mineral Wells Independent School District (Isd), where over 73% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

This school stands out for its remarkable ability to keep students on track to graduate, boasting a 96.5% graduation rate and a dropout rate of just 0.1% for the 2023-2024 school year—numbers that rival much smaller nearby schools like Perrin School and Graford School. However, academic proficiency on state assessments tells a different story. In subjects like Algebra I and English I Reading, Mineral Wells’ scores (43.78% and 44.31% proficient, respectively) lag significantly behind those of Garner College And Career Preparatory Academy and Perrin, which often exceed 75% proficiency. This creates a "graduation vs. proficiency" paradox: the school excels at supporting students through to graduation but struggles to ensure they master core academic skills, especially in math and reading.

Compared to its neighbors, Mineral Wells is nearly ten times larger, with a higher student-teacher ratio (15.3:1) than Perrin (11.2:1) or Graford (8.6:1), which may limit individualized attention. A bright spot is Biology, where 69.89% of students met proficiency—close to the state average. The school’s spending of $12,744 per student is in line with area districts, but the data suggests resources may be heavily directed toward the support systems that drive high graduation rates rather than instructional programs that boost test scores. For parents, this means Mineral Wells offers a strong safety net for graduation, but you may want to explore additional academic support, particularly in math and English, to ensure college or career readiness.