Iltexas Keller Middle, Fort Worth TX

Original Research by School Decision on Iltexas Keller Middle

ILTEXAS Keller Middle is a public charter school serving grades 6 through 8 in Fort Worth. It is part of International Leadership of Texas, a statewide charter system that has expanded to over 26 campuses. ILTEXAS is defined by a distinctive curriculum model: all students study English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese together, and all receive instruction grounded in U.S. Marine Corps leadership principles. Daily uniforms are required. This pedagogical structure is a signature feature families choose when they select the school over traditional public options, and it creates a school environment quite different from the typical middle school.

The school sits in a mid-sized city experiencing rapid growth. Fort Worth has become one of the nation's fastest-growing major cities, with continued in-migration driving significant housing construction on the western and northwestern edges and major mixed-use development near the downtown core. The city spans multiple character districts: downtown with a business and arts core, the Stockyards reflecting Western heritage, the Cultural District anchoring museums and civic life, and the Near Southside emerging as a livable, walkable neighborhood. Transit options include Trinity Metro buses and the TEXRail line to DFW Airport. Housing values and rents in the area have risen substantially amid the growth surge.

On state testing, ILTEXAS Keller's results are mixed. In English Language Arts, students show solid performance: a majority meet the proficiency threshold in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, with seventh-grade results particularly strong. Math, by contrast, is a significant soft spot. Sixth and eighth graders show similar proficiency rates around the midpoint, but seventh-grade math results were quite low, with no students reaching proficiency on the assessment; however, the seventh-grade math cohort that year was very small, so a parent may want to look into the details with the school to understand whether that reflects a data anomaly, a specific class, or a broader pattern. Science and social studies show mixed results as well: science proficiency in eighth grade is solid, but social studies trails behind. Across all subjects, the school's overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint among the county's districts, meaning performance is above the median for Tarrant County schools.

Enrollment is moderate in size for a charter middle school. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with no single group forming a majority. A substantial share of students qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a population with meaningful economic need. The school draws students from the broader Fort Worth area.

The school is part of a charter system in active growth. ILTEXAS is expanding K-8 campuses in the Houston region and is building new high schools to create complete K-12 pathways, meaning families whose children attend ILTEXAS K-8 schools can remain in the system through graduation. For Fort Worth families in particular, ILTEXAS Keller represents a tuition-free alternative to traditional public middle school, with a defined curriculum model that emphasizes language breadth and character-based leadership training rather than a conventional core-subject emphasis.

A parent considering this school should factor in that the trilingual and Marine Corps leadership framework is central to how the school operates and how students spend their day. Reading further with the school about seventh-grade math and about how the leadership program is integrated would provide clarity on instructional approaches. The school's placement in Fort Worth's context as a fast-growing, diverse city with evolving housing costs means families should also consider longer-term community stability and housing affordability as part of a middle-school choice.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 19% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 1% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 839%

School 39% · District 26% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 41% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 761%

School 61% · District 45% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 39% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Science

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 37% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 20% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

This schoolINTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP OF TEXAS (ILTEXAS), 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 6Lower-income48%Higher-income75%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income52%Higher-income70%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income52%Higher-income79%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income50%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income31%Higher-income46%15 pp gap