Shepherd Middle

Shepherd Middle is a public middle school in Shepherd, Texas, serving 425 students in grades 6-8. The school is part of the Shepherd Independent School District, which is ranked 863 out of 961 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. Shepherd Middle has consistently ranked in the bottom quartile of Texas middle schools, with a 1-star rating for the past several years.

Shepherd Middle's academic performance is a significant concern, with students consistently underperforming compared to state averages on STAAR assessments. In the 2024-2025 school year, the percentage of students proficient or better in reading ranged from 23.78% to 38.57% across grades, significantly lower than the state averages of 51.69% to 56.39%. The school's performance in math is even more concerning, with proficiency rates ranging from 0% to 23.13%, compared to the state's 31.12% to 44.81%. Additionally, Shepherd Middle has had relatively high dropout rates in recent years, ranging from 0.3% to 0.8%, which is higher than the state average.

While Shepherd Middle faces significant challenges, the data also highlights opportunities for improvement. The nearby middle schools, such as Livingston J.H., Tarkington Middle, and Cleveland Middle, generally outperform Shepherd Middle on academic measures, despite serving similar student populations. This suggests that there may be opportunities for Shepherd Middle to learn from the practices and strategies employed by its higher-performing peers. With the right interventions and support, the school could potentially improve its academic outcomes and move up in the state rankings.