Idea Judson Academy, San Antonio TX

Original Research by School Decision on Idea Judson Academy

IDEA Judson Academy is a charter school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in San Antonio, with a student body of about that enrollment size. The school operates as part of IDEA Public Schools, a large statewide charter network currently under state conservatorship due to a years-long investigation into improper spending settled in March 2024. The network is repaying a substantial sum in federal grant and formula funding through December 2026, and has installed new leadership and strengthened compliance and audit procedures. For families considering this school, the conservatorship represents an ongoing governance change worth understanding directly with the school or network.

On academics, the school shows mixed performance. In English Language Arts, students demonstrate stronger proficiency, particularly in upper grades where roughly seven in ten fifth graders meet or exceed proficiency standards. Third-grade ELA proficiency sits around six in ten, and fourth grade is higher. In mathematics, the profile is softer. Third-grade math proficiency falls to about one in three, though fifth-grade math recovers to about one in two students meeting proficiency. A very small cohort of fourth graders was assessed in mathematics and showed no proficiency; this appears to reflect an assessment in Spanish rather than a weakness unique to that grade. Fifth-grade science proficiency sits at about four in ten.

When viewed across all tested subjects and grade bands together, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among school sites across Bexar County. This reflects stronger performance in ELA and social studies relative to the broader county landscape, even as mathematics remains a weaker area. The school's student body is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with a substantial majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high-poverty enrollment. The school sits on Judson Road in the northeast part of San Antonio.

State testing data are available only for grades tested by the state; kindergarten through second grade are untested under Texas assessment policy, so those grades do not appear in the proficiency results. The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate applies. Enrollment data and demographic counts appear in the school's profile section.

San Antonio itself is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, expanding rapidly across suburban areas like Stone Oak and Alamo Ranch and also into downtown revitalization. Housing values in the school's zip code are moderately below the statewide average, and monthly rent is similarly moderate. The city's economy is anchored by healthcare and bioscience, military installations, finance, and an emerging IT and cybersecurity sector. Downtown and the River Walk serve as civic anchors, though much of the broader metropolitan area is car-dependent.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 7% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 40%

School 0% · District 8% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 14% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 4% · ▲ 54 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 51% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 19% · ▲ 51 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Science

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 5% · ▲ 41 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

This schoolIDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income53%Higher-income76%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income63%Higher-income75%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income65%Higher-income83%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income29%Higher-income48%19 pp gap