Summary:
In zip code 78140, there is one high school, Nixon-Smiley High School, serving grades 9 through 12 in the rural community of Nixon, Texas, as part of the Nixon-Smiley Consolidated Independent School District.
Nixon-Smiley High School has a total enrollment of 295 students and a low student-teacher ratio of 11.2, which often suggests smaller class sizes. The school spends a relatively high $15,785 per student. However, its academic performance presents a mixed picture. The school has an exceptionally high graduation rate of 98.3% and a 0.0% dropout rate for the 2023-2024 school year. Despite this success in keeping students in school, proficiency on state assessments is significantly below state averages in most subjects. For the 2025-2026 school year, only 15.15% of students were proficient in Algebra I compared to the state average of 54.03%, and just 44.93% were proficient in U.S. History versus the state's 70.17%. The school's state ranking has also declined sharply, falling from the 46th percentile (2 stars) in 2023-2024 to the 26th percentile (1 star) for the 2025-2026 school year.
A notable bright spot is in Biology, where 64.38% of students were proficient, which is much closer to the state average of 70.51% than in other subjects. This suggests the science department may have effective teaching practices that could be replicated. The school serves a high-poverty population, with 73.9% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch. The key takeaway for parents is that while Nixon-Smiley High School excels at ensuring students graduate, it faces significant challenges in helping them achieve grade-level academic proficiency, particularly in math and history.
Thank you for your feedback!