Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 75160

There are four elementary schools in zip code 75160 (Terrell, TX), serving grades K-5 as part of the Terrell Independent School District (Isd), an area characterized by high economic disadvantage where three of the four schools report over 79% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch.

The standout school in this area is Global Leadership Academy, which ranks in the top 5% of Texas elementary schools (97th percentile) and has earned a 5-star rating for three consecutive years. This school dramatically outperforms its peers, with 5th Grade Reading proficiency at 87.5% compared to the district average of 37.04%. It also has a significantly lower rate of economic disadvantage (52.5%) and the highest per-student spending ($12,099). In stark contrast, the other three schools—J W Long Elementary, Gilbert Willie Senior Elementary, and Dr Bruce Wood Elementary—all rank in the bottom 10% of the state (0-1 stars), with similar profiles of high poverty rates (79-83%), low test scores, and large enrollments (655-681 students).

Key metrics reveal a stark divide: the three struggling schools average 81.1% economic disadvantage and $10,828 per student spending, while Global Leadership Academy has 52.5% disadvantage and $12,099 spending. A troubling trend is the alarmingly low 5th Grade Science proficiency at Gilbert Willie Senior Elementary (4.58%) and J.W. Long (26.5%). Additionally, Dr. Bruce Wood Elementary shows a concerning decline, dropping from the 27th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 9th percentile by 2025-2026. The extreme performance gap between Global Leadership Academy and the other three schools, despite being in the same district, suggests fundamentally different models or student compositions, with the poverty-performance correlation being the most defining characteristic.