Summary:
In the 78237 zip code of San Antonio, Texas, there are two middle schools—KIPP Camino Academy and Stafford Elementary—serving grades 5 through 8 and grade 5 only, respectively, in a high-poverty area where over 90% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
KIPP Camino Academy, part of the KIPP Texas Public Schools district, is the larger school with 408 students and shows a promising upward trend in its state ranking, moving from the 14th to the 21st percentile over three years. In 5th grade, it outperformed Stafford Elementary in every English-language STAAR subject: 38.82% proficient in reading versus 31.25%, 25.88% in math versus 17.65%, and 9.41% in science versus 5.21%. However, KIPP Camino has a high student-teacher ratio of 19.4:1 and a notable weakness in 8th-grade social studies, where only 7.04% of students were proficient. Stafford Elementary, part of the Edgewood Independent School District (Isd), is a small, single-grade school with 102 students and a very low student-teacher ratio of 8.7:1, yet this advantage does not translate into higher test scores.
Spending per student is nearly identical at both schools—$9,533 at KIPP Camino and $9,748 at Stafford—but academic outcomes differ significantly. KIPP Camino’s bilingual program shows mixed results: 5th graders taking the Spanish STAAR reading test scored 40% proficient, well above district and state averages, but the same group scored 0% on the Spanish math test. Stafford’s classification as a middle school serving only 5th grade is unusual, and its low district ranking (4th percentile) reflects deep challenges. Overall, KIPP Camino appears to be the stronger choice for families, with a positive trajectory and better test scores, while Stafford offers small class sizes but struggles academically.
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