Summary:
This analysis examines eight elementary schools in Houston, Texas, zip code 77009, serving grades Pre-K through 5, with most belonging to the Houston Independent School District (Isd) and one, the Leonel Castillo Early Childhood STEM Academy, belonging to the Raul Yzaguirre Schools For Success charter network.
Travis Elementary is the clear academic leader, earning a 5-star rating and ranking in the top 5% of Texas elementary schools, with STAAR scores far exceeding district and state averages. In contrast, Martinez C Elementary is the lowest-performing school, consistently ranking in the bottom 5% with a 0-star rating. Ketelsen Elementary stands out as a remarkable improver, jumping from a 2-star to a 4-star school in just two years. The remaining schools—Sherman Elementary, Browning Elementary, Jefferson Elementary, and Looscan Elementary—fall in the middle, with state rankings between the 39th and 78th percentiles. The Leonel Castillo Early Childhood STEM Academy is an outlier, serving only Pre-K and Kindergarten with no standardized test scores for comparison.
Key metrics reveal a stark divide: Travis Elementary has a very low free/reduced lunch rate of 13.52%, while the other six standard elementary schools have rates above 88%, indicating high poverty levels. Interestingly, Martinez C Elementary spends the most per student ($12,340) but performs the worst, while Travis Elementary spends the least ($9,014) and performs the best, showing that higher spending does not guarantee better results. A universal weakness across all schools is 5th Grade Science, with proficiency rates as low as 6.9% at Martinez C Elementary and 8.7% at Jefferson Elementary. Additionally, bilingual programs are a key factor, as several schools offer the STAAR test in Spanish, with students sometimes performing better on the Spanish version, highlighting the importance of language support for English learners.
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