Winters Elementary

Winters Elementary in Winters, TX, serves 334 students in grades PK-6 within the Winters Independent School District (Isd), and has recently shown a promising upward trend in academic performance, moving from the 38th percentile to the 52nd percentile in the 2025-2026 school year.

One of the most notable strengths at Winters Elementary is the exceptional performance of its 6th graders, who consistently outperform state averages in both Reading and Math. For example, in 2025-2026, 6th graders achieved 72.41% proficiency in Reading and 65.52% in Math, compared to state averages of 53.52% and 38.57%, respectively. This "6th grade bump" suggests a highly effective teaching team or curriculum that could serve as a model for lower grades, where performance is weaker—such as 4th-grade Reading at 38.46% and Math at 35.9%. However, the school faces persistent challenges in Science, with 5th graders scoring only around 15% proficient in recent years, roughly half the state average. Additionally, support for subgroups like Special Education and Gifted students has been inconsistent year-to-year, indicating a need for more stable intervention strategies.

Compared to nearby schools, Winters Elementary occupies a middle ground. Lawn Elementary in the Jim Ned Consolidated Independent School District is a high-performing outlier, consistently ranking in the 80th-88th percentile, while Ballinger Elementary in the Ballinger Independent School District (Isd) is on a downward trend. Winters invests more per student ($11,835) and has a favorable student-teacher ratio (14.3:1), yet it doesn't see the same academic returns as Lawn, likely due to the higher poverty rate (67.37% on free/reduced lunch) compared to Lawn's 31.08%. The success of the 6th-grade program proves that Winters can achieve high outcomes, and the challenge is replicating that success across all grades and subjects.