Summary:
Zip code 78059 (Natalia, TX) is home to two elementary-level schools serving grades PK-5 within the Natalia Independent School District (Isd), a district ranked in the 15th percentile statewide and serving a high-poverty population.
Natalia Elementary (grades 2-5, 426 students) is the only school with standardized test data, and its performance is consistently below state averages. The most alarming metric is 5th-grade science, where only 6.6% of students were proficient compared to the state average of 29.57%. Math proficiency is also critically low, ranging from 14.71% to 33.33%, roughly half the state average. Reading scores are the school's relative strength, with 4th-grade reading reaching 45% (within 10 points of the state average). The school's state ranking has been volatile, dropping from the 23rd percentile to the 7th percentile before recovering to the 17th percentile. Natalia Early Child Center (PK-1, 283 students) serves as the foundational entry point, with a higher rate of economically disadvantaged students (72.44% free/reduced lunch) compared to Natalia Elementary (64.79%).
Key findings reveal a district in academic crisis, particularly in STEM subjects. The combined enrollment is 709 students, with an average free/reduced lunch rate of 68.6%. Student-teacher ratios are relatively high (17.4:1 at Natalia Elementary, 16.1:1 at the Early Child Center), while per-student spending is above the national average ($10,767 and $11,373 respectively). The significant investment in early childhood education at the Early Child Center does not appear to translate into later academic success at the elementary level, suggesting potential issues with resource allocation or instructional quality. The volatility in test scores year-over-year indicates a lack of consistent instructional strategies, though the relative strength in 4th-grade reading offers a potential area to build upon for improvement in math and science.
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