Summary:
There are two middle schools serving grades 6-8 in the 75227 zip code of Dallas, Texas, both part of the Dallas Independent School District (Isd), which has a 3-star rating and serves a highly economically disadvantaged community.
Ann Richards Steam Academy stands out as the stronger performing school in the area, consistently ranking higher than Piedmont Global Academy. Ann Richards ranks in the 16th percentile statewide (1-star) compared to Piedmont's 10th percentile (0-stars), and it has shown a more stable trend over the last three years. Ann Richards outperforms Piedmont in nearly every core subject, including 7th Grade Reading (43.48% vs. 27.46%) and 8th Grade Science (35.84% vs. 20.36%). Ann Richards also has a slightly lower dropout rate (2.1%) than Piedmont (2.5%), and both are below the district average of 3.2%. However, both schools serve a student population with extremely high poverty rates (over 96% free/reduced lunch) and have relatively high per-student spending ($10,673 at Ann Richards and $11,241 at Piedmont), yet overall academic outcomes remain very low, ranking in the bottom 16% of Texas schools.
The most striking finding is the exceptional performance of both schools in Algebra I (End of Course), where Ann Richards (71.96%) and Piedmont (71.30%) dramatically outperformed the district (59.35%) and state (54.03%) averages. This is a massive reversal from their performance in standard 8th-grade math, where both schools are well below district and state averages. Additionally, Piedmont showed significant volatility in 8th Grade Social Studies, dropping from outperforming the district in 2024-2025 (27.04% vs. 26.62%) to falling well below in 2025-2026 (14.57% vs. 30.16%). Ann Richards, meanwhile, demonstrates a notable advantage in 8th Grade Science, nearly matching the district average (35.84% vs. 36.57%).
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