Riverside Elementary

Riverside Elementary is a PK-5 school in the Ysleta Independent School District (Isd) in El Paso, TX, serving 607 students in a high-poverty area where over 92% qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Riverside is a school in the midst of a powerful turnaround. Its most defining strength is exceptional support for Special Education students, who now rank in the 84th percentile statewide—a dramatic leap from the 14th percentile just three years ago. The school also shines with its Spanish-language reading program, where 5th graders achieved an 82.35% proficiency rate, far exceeding district and state averages. However, Riverside has a "two-speed" academic profile: while Spanish reading excels, English reading and math scores lag behind district averages. For example, 4th-grade English reading proficiency is 38.71% compared to the district's 55.9%. A puzzling anomaly is the 0% proficiency rate for 3rd graders taking the STAAR Spanish Math exam for three consecutive years, which needs immediate investigation. Nearby Ramona Elementary Stem Academy, with a similar poverty rate, ranks significantly higher (83rd percentile) and offers a benchmark for what Riverside could achieve in math.

Riverside has climbed from the 16th percentile statewide in 2022-2023 to the 44th percentile in 2025-2026, a gain of 28 points in three years. Every student subgroup has improved, with Low SES and Hispanic students now performing at or above state averages. The main challenge is to transfer literacy skills from Spanish to English and to better challenge Gifted and Talented students, who ranked in the 11th percentile. While Eastwood Knolls International (92nd percentile) shows the impact of lower poverty, Riverside proves that rapid improvement is possible even in high-poverty settings, making it a school to watch for continued growth.