Summary:
Zip code 76528 in Gatesville, TX, is served by two elementary schools within the Gatesville Independent School District (Isd): Gatesville Elementary (grades 1-3) and Gatesville Pri (Pre-Kindergarten through Kindergarten), together educating 893 students.
These two schools serve distinct grade levels with different resource allocations. Gatesville Pri spends more per student ($9,488 vs. $8,961) but has larger class sizes (15.6:1 student-teacher ratio) compared to Gatesville Elementary (13.2:1 ratio). This suggests the Pri school's higher spending goes toward specialized early childhood staff and programs rather than reducing class sizes. Both schools serve a similar high-need population, with about 56% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, indicating consistent economic challenges across the district's youngest learners.
The most critical finding is a significant academic decline at Gatesville Elementary, the only school with standardized test scores. Between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years, 3rd-grade STAAR reading proficiency dropped from 56.28% to 47.06%, and math proficiency fell from 52.74% to 47.06%. While the school outperformed state averages in both subjects in 2024-2025, it fell below the state reading average (51.08%) and only slightly exceeded the state math average (44.33%) in 2025-2026. This sharp decline, despite a stable socioeconomic profile, warrants attention from parents and district leadership as it may signal curriculum or instructional challenges affecting student readiness for upper elementary grades.
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