Summary:
This analysis examines two elementary schools in the 75148 zip code of Malakoff, Texas: Malakoff Elementary and Cross Roads Elementary, which serve grades PK-5 and belong to Malakoff Independent School District (Isd) and Cross Roads Independent School District (Isd), respectively.
Cross Roads Elementary stands out as the most rapidly improving school in the area, having jumped from a 2-star to a 4-star rating in just two years. It now ranks in the 74th percentile statewide, and its district is ranked 78th out of 951 in Texas (92nd percentile). The school is a math powerhouse, with a 75.56% proficiency rate in 3rd-grade math—far exceeding the state average of 44.33%. In contrast, Malakoff Elementary has been a more consistent performer, maintaining 3- or 4-star ratings for three years, though it has recently declined from the 80th to the 58th percentile. Malakoff spends significantly more per student ($11,691 vs. $9,726), yet Cross Roads achieves higher overall rankings with fewer resources, suggesting highly effective instructional strategies.
A key takeaway is the subject-specific strengths: Cross Roads excels in math, while Malakoff has historically been a reading leader, though its 2025-2026 reading scores dropped sharply. Cross Roads also has a lower percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunch (53.82% vs. 69.46%), which may contribute to its academic trajectory. Both schools have similar student-teacher ratios (around 14:1), but their performance paths are diverging—Cross Roads is on a steep upward climb, while Malakoff faces a critical need to reverse its recent decline.
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