Summary:
Zip code 77469 in Richmond, TX, is home to two middle schools, Reading Jh and Harry Wright Jh, both part of the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, serving grades 6-8 in a suburban area with a mix of socioeconomic backgrounds.
Reading Jh is the standout school in this area, ranking in the 92nd percentile statewide (5 stars) for the 2025-2026 school year, a significant jump from its already strong 91st percentile the prior year. It consistently outperforms its local counterpart, Harry Wright Jh, which ranks in the 70th percentile (4 stars) but has shown positive momentum, improving from the 51st percentile in 2023-2024. Reading Jh boasts a very low dropout rate of 0.4% (half the district average of 0.9%), while Harry Wright Jh has a higher rate of 1.3%. In terms of academic proficiency, Reading Jh leads in average reading (76.76% vs. 61.99%) and math (55.37% vs. 42.97%), and both schools excel in Algebra I, with Reading Jh achieving a perfect 100% proficiency rate and Harry Wright Jh at 90.28%, far above the district average of 58.33%.
A key finding is the "7th grade math slump," where both schools see a dramatic drop in math proficiency from 6th to 7th grade—for example, Reading Jh falls from 65.17% to 26.73%—suggesting a systemic curriculum challenge. Additionally, the largest performance gap between the two schools is in 8th-grade Social Studies, where Reading Jh scores 57.06% proficient compared to Harry Wright Jh's 29.81%, a difference of over 27 percentage points. For parents, Reading Jh offers top-tier academic performance and low dropout rates, while Harry Wright Jh is on an upward trajectory but has areas needing improvement, particularly in Social Studies and general math.
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