Del Rio Middle

Del Rio Middle in Del Rio, TX, serves 1,347 students in grades 7 and 8 within the San Felipe-Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District, a large middle school in a predominantly low-income community where over 70% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

This school stands out for its exceptional performance in advanced coursework, with students taking Algebra I and English I End-of-Course exams achieving proficiency rates far above state averages—93.75% in Algebra I and a perfect 100% in English I Reading for the 2025-2026 school year. However, the school faces a significant challenge with its general education program, where standard grade-level subjects like 8th-grade reading (38.5% proficient) and math (27.81% proficient) lag behind state averages. This creates a "two-schools" phenomenon: a highly successful advanced track alongside a struggling general program. The school also shows a clear upward trend, moving from a 1-star to a 2-star rating in recent years, and maintains a very low dropout rate of 0.2%.

Compared to nearby schools, Del Rio Middle excels in advanced coursework but struggles in standard subjects. For instance, San Felipe Memorial Middle (serving 6th graders) outperforms Del Rio Middle in 6th-grade reading and math, but Del Rio Middle’s Algebra I proficiency (93.75%) dwarfs San Felipe’s (73.33%). Meanwhile, Heritage Academy of Del Rio Middle, a charter school with a higher poverty rate, achieves higher 8th-grade reading (61.64%) and math (35.42%) proficiency than Del Rio Middle, but its lower grades perform poorly. This suggests Del Rio Middle has a unique strength in preparing top students for high school-level work, while other schools may focus more on grade-level skills.