Summary:
In zip code 75801 (Palestine, TX), there are two elementary schools serving grades K-3 within the Palestine Independent School District (Isd), creating a unique educational pipeline where Northside Pri handles kindergarten and first grade, while Southside Elementary serves second and third grades.
Both schools serve a high-poverty population, with over 80% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch. Southside Elementary is slightly larger with 442 students compared to Northside Pri's 400, and it has a slightly better student-teacher ratio (14.4:1 versus 15.4:1) while spending slightly more per student ($10,496 versus $10,187). However, academic performance data is only available for Southside Elementary, which shows 3rd-grade STAAR scores significantly below state averages. In the 2025-2026 school year, reading proficiency was 33.33% (state: 51.08%) and math proficiency was 28.64% (state: 44.33%).
The most concerning finding is a sharp academic decline at Southside Elementary between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years, with reading scores dropping over 10 percentage points and math scores falling over 14 percentage points. This widening gap from state averages, particularly in math, warrants attention. Additionally, the lack of test data from Northside Pri creates a data gap, making it impossible to determine whether students arrive at Southside with academic deficits or if challenges emerge during second and third grade. Despite having more resources per student, Southside's low outcomes suggest that resource allocation alone is not solving the academic challenges in this high-poverty context.
Thank you for your feedback!