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Dessau Middle

Public Grades 6-8
1836th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 2,344 Texas Middle Schools
Better than 22% of Texas middle schools
Summary

Dessau Middle is a public middle school located in Austin, Texas, serving grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 655 students. It is part of the Pflugerville Independent School District (ISD), which is ranked 484 out of 961 school districts in Texas and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Dessau Middle consistently ranks in the bottom quartile of Texas middle schools, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger for the past several years. Its academic performance, as measured by STAAR test scores, is significantly lower than the Pflugerville ISD and Texas state averages across all grade levels and subject areas. The school has a very high percentage of students from low-income families, with around 65-83% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch in recent years, which is significantly higher than the other nearby Pflugerville ISD middle schools. Dessau Middle also has a relatively low student-teacher ratio, ranging from 10.9 to 11.9 in recent years, which is lower than the other Pflugerville ISD middle schools, and has experienced higher dropout rates compared to the Pflugerville ISD average.

The significant achievement gaps and disproportionate representation of lower-performing subgroups at Dessau Middle suggest that the school may be struggling to effectively serve its student population. However, the nearby Bohls Middle, Park Crest Middle, and Pflugerville Middle generally outperform Dessau Middle academically, despite serving similar student populations. This indicates that there may be opportunities to learn from the practices and strategies employed at these higher-performing schools to address the challenges faced by Dessau Middle.

596
Students ?
10.6
Student/teacher ratio ?
$11,712
Per pupil spending ?
80.4%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 12900 Dessau Rd
       Austin, TX  78754

(512) 594-2600

District: Pflugerville Independent School District (Isd)


Students who attend Dessau Middle usually attend:

High:    John B Connally High School

Feeder schools for Dessau Middle:

Elementary:    Ruth Barron Elementary
    Wieland Elementary
    Wilhelmina Delco Elementary
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
67.4%
African American:
14.3%
Asian:
8.1%
more
 See top rated Texas middle schools

 Compare Dessau Middle to nearby middle schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Holding steady — 24th percentile in 2015 → 22nd in 2025
Strengths
Small classes — about 11 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Texas average (33% vs 45% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (22nd percentile)
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school33%
District avg42%
Texas avg45%
1,836th of 2,344
Texas public middle schools ?
Bottom 22%▼ down 2 pts since 2015
See the entire ranking list of Texas Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
6th of 7Middle Schools in the Pflugerville Independent School District (Isd)
484th of 961Pflugerville Independent School District (Isd) among Texas districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202527.01836 of 234421.7%★☆☆☆☆
202418.92066 of 237212.9%★☆☆☆☆
202318.22038 of 233012.5%★☆☆☆☆
202217.81982 of 225412.1%★☆☆☆☆
202122.01820 of 225219.2%★☆☆☆☆
201921.41857 of 219315.3%★☆☆☆☆
201821.71770 of 208014.9%★☆☆☆☆
201724.61629 of 202719.6%★☆☆☆☆
201633.51474 of 198725.8%★☆☆☆☆
201531.01550 of 204324.1%★☆☆☆☆
201431.41488 of 198725.1%★☆☆☆☆
201337.21395 of 197329.3%★☆☆☆☆
201240.61256 of 195135.6%★★☆☆☆
201139.81404 of 189525.9%★☆☆☆☆
201048.21123 of 180337.7%★★☆☆☆
200946.51116 of 176336.7%★★☆☆☆
200848.61030 of 171840.0%★★☆☆☆
200737.91223 of 168427.4%★☆☆☆☆
200631.91204 of 158524.0%★☆☆☆☆
200534.91174 of 158225.8%★☆☆☆☆
200426.61316 of 157316.3%★☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202529.5756 of 99724.2%★☆☆☆☆
202420.61150 of 128010.2%★☆☆☆☆
202322.01087 of 127314.6%★☆☆☆☆
202228.1993 of 125120.6%★☆☆☆☆
202128.9939 of 121322.6%★☆☆☆☆
201927.2938 of 119321.4%★☆☆☆☆
201824.1967 of 116717.1%★☆☆☆☆

Asian

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
20259.4481 of 5054.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202415.9568 of 6177.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202319.4552 of 61610.4%★☆☆☆☆
202222.3531 of 60612.4%★☆☆☆☆
202128.6472 of 58919.9%★☆☆☆☆
201925.0503 of 59415.3%★☆☆☆☆
201837.9425 of 58727.6%★☆☆☆☆

At Risk

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202229.61710 of 218221.6%★☆☆☆☆
202129.41662 of 211821.5%★☆☆☆☆
201925.91764 of 205814.3%★☆☆☆☆
201830.51556 of 200822.5%★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202537.0907 of 142836.5%★★☆☆☆
202424.01502 of 177015.1%★☆☆☆☆
202330.01298 of 172024.5%★☆☆☆☆
202229.61283 of 164321.9%★☆☆☆☆
202133.71117 of 159229.8%★☆☆☆☆
201931.51072 of 144525.8%★☆☆☆☆
201830.11083 of 137621.3%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202524.51498 of 182517.9%★☆☆☆☆
202416.12051 of 22428.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202317.32005 of 224110.5%★☆☆☆☆
202217.71983 of 222110.7%★☆☆☆☆
202121.11808 of 215115.9%★☆☆☆☆
201919.21819 of 204711.1%★☆☆☆☆
201820.51762 of 200812.3%★☆☆☆☆

Gifted and Talented

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202529.11028 of 123016.4%★☆☆☆☆
202313.41385 of 14816.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202215.81361 of 14888.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202132.51158 of 150122.9%★☆☆☆☆
201934.11149 of 144620.5%★☆☆☆☆
201816.41325 of 14307.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202526.91391 of 173119.6%★☆☆☆☆
202417.61949 of 21198.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202319.61882 of 211611.1%★☆☆☆☆
202216.91917 of 20777.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202121.91761 of 204313.8%★☆☆☆☆
201916.71804 of 19356.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201818.71748 of 18957.8%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202532.31327 of 182027.1%★☆☆☆☆
202425.01874 of 223516.2%★☆☆☆☆
202321.11974 of 225112.3%★☆☆☆☆
202221.61937 of 222012.7%★☆☆☆☆
202127.21737 of 217220.0%★☆☆☆☆
201924.21773 of 207314.5%★☆☆☆☆
201825.61731 of 203915.1%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202526.41432 of 181821.2%★☆☆☆☆
202420.71940 of 224613.6%★☆☆☆☆
202320.11926 of 224514.2%★☆☆☆☆
202218.81954 of 222812.3%★☆☆☆☆
202124.21725 of 216820.4%★☆☆☆☆
201923.81709 of 206917.4%★☆☆☆☆
201823.01714 of 203015.6%★☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202417.3751 of 8188.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202324.9679 of 81716.9%★☆☆☆☆
202229.7628 of 81322.8%★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202535.41078 of 156831.3%★★☆☆☆
202439.71158 of 189138.8%★★☆☆☆
202333.51266 of 181530.2%★★☆☆☆
202231.51305 of 175725.7%★☆☆☆☆
202136.11073 of 171237.3%★★☆☆☆
201927.81327 of 162618.4%★☆☆☆☆
201821.01536 of 15973.8%☆☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTexas percentileRating
202548.2743 of 143948.4%★★☆☆☆
202432.01305 of 173324.7%★☆☆☆☆
202336.31224 of 174930.0%★★☆☆☆
202219.41549 of 172310.1%★☆☆☆☆
202131.31289 of 170024.2%★☆☆☆☆
201930.61285 of 168423.7%★☆☆☆☆
201816.81540 of 16737.9%☆☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
White (2025)48th percentile+27 vs school
English Language Learner (2025)36th percentile+15 vs school
Special Education (2025)31st percentile+10 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)27th percentile+5 vs school
African American (2025)24th percentile+3 vs school
At Risk (2022)22nd percentile+10 vs school
Male (2025)21st percentile~ school
Hispanic (2025)20th percentile~ school
Female (2025)18th percentile-4 vs school
Gifted and Talented (2025)16th percentile-5 vs school
Multi-racial (2024)8th percentile-5 vs school
Asian (2025)5th percentile-17 vs school
By subject vs Texas (2024-2025) ?
Algebra I81%+34 vs state
Reading42%-12 vs state
Mathematics26%-13 vs state
Science25%-22 vs state
Social Studies18%-12 vs state

2.0
3 ratings · 3 written reviews
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What people are saying
by a parent
Friday, July 23, 2021

Open Quote I attended this school as a kid and even then it was not up to the standards as it should be. Your child will go down a wrong path going to this school. I have nephews who attended and dropped out because of the constant harassing and bullies. This is not a good school. When my daughter was rezoned to this school I immediately withdrew her from pfisd. And she is attending harmony charter school and thriving best decision I ever made. This school changes kids and not for the better. Dont believe me look all of it up the rating, look up stories. It's not a good place to have your child. Steer clear. Close Quote


by a parent
Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Open Quote The school is not as bad as they make it seem the teachers are great the coaches know what they are doing Close Quote


by a parent
Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Open Quote The problem with Dessau Middle School is the almost complete apathy of the teachers and administration. These are children from families who are largely struggling. They are single parents often working long hours or more than one job or they are uneducated parents who can't get a good job and are incapable of helping their children much. Many parents don't even speak English and thus cannot communicate with the teachers. This situation takes special people who truly care about the students and are willing to work to treat them as individuals and give them special attention but that isn't the kind of people that Dessau Middle School hires. Some of the teachers and at least one of the principals are simply mean and unhappy people; they are not caring or nice and should not be working with children, especially not needy children. There is no allowance for the fact that these children are often home alone and if they get in trouble at school, the solution is to send them home... they don't care that that only makes it worse. If you want a school where the teachers and staff work with you and think of the care of your child as a team effort, this is the wrong school! It's sad and I hope the new Principal will finally do something about it. The other schools in this district are good. Delco was awesome and Dessau Elementary was fine. Connally High School is very good. It's just that very difficult middle school piece and it's such an important phase of a child's life. I hope they figure it out. We are leaving now; this was our last year and I have at least one child who was definitely negatively impacted by his time at Dessau. Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Dessau Middle

Dessau Middle ranks in the bottom 21.7% of Texas middle schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 596 students attended Dessau Middle.

Students at Dessau Middle are 67% Hispanic, 14% African American, 8% Asian, 7% White, 3% Two or more races.

Students who attend Dessau Middle usually go on to attend John B Connally High School


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Texas Education Agency.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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