Summary
Olney Elementary in Olney, TX, is a public PK-5 school serving 369 students within the Olney Independent School District (Isd), a 4-star district that ranks in the 75th percentile statewide. The school has maintained a stable, mid-tier 3-star rating for the past seven years, typically ranking between the 59th and 69th percentile. While it has not reached the heights of its 4-star ratings in 2016 and 2018, it remains a solidly average school serving a community where roughly 59-65% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
A key comparison is with Archer City Elementary, located 16.9 miles away in the Archer City Independent School District (Isd). Archer City is a top-performing school ranked in the 94th percentile (5 stars), while Olney Elementary is in the 50th percentile (3 stars). The academic gap is significant: in math, Archer City’s proficiency rates range from 75% to 90% across grades 3-5, compared to Olney’s 38% to 54%. In reading, Archer City leads with 63-85% proficiency versus Olney’s 39-67%. Interestingly, Olney Elementary has a more favorable student-teacher ratio (11.9:1) and spends significantly more per student ($13,299) than Archer City ($9,835), yet achieves far lower academic outcomes. This suggests that resource allocation alone is not the primary driver of success.
Olney Elementary shows a clear academic profile: it consistently excels in 5th Grade Science, significantly outperforming the state average (e.g., 47.46% vs. 29.57% in 2024-2025), but mathematics remains a persistent weakness. While math scores have improved from lows of 22-23% proficiency in 2022-2023 to 38-54% in 2025-2026, they still lag behind state averages. The school’s subgroup performance has declined notably, with White students dropping from the 46th to the 22nd percentile, Hispanic students from the 75th to the 38th percentile, and low socio-economic status students from the 66th to the 37th percentile over recent years. This pattern suggests that core instructional strategies may be becoming less effective for the school’s diverse student body, raising important questions about how resources are deployed to close the performance gap.
Thank you for your feedback!