Original Research by School Decision on Iltexas Liberty H S
ILTEXAS Liberty High School opened its doors to a ninth-grade class in Cleveland, a rural town in Liberty County. The school is part of International Leadership of Texas, a statewide public charter network that has expanded rapidly in recent years. This particular campus represents the organization's effort to complete a K-12 pathway in the Houston area: families who placed children in ILTexas K-8 campuses elsewhere in the region can now keep them through graduation rather than transferring to a traditional district high school.
The school serves an entirely ninth-grade cohort at present. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a very high share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this in a low-income community context. The enrollment is small for a high school, by design given the single-grade focus. State testing data for the 2024-2025 school year shows proficiency rates that are below the Texas state benchmarks across most tested subjects. Overall, a modest share of students reached the "meets" standard across subjects combined; in English and math, the "meets" rate was small. Performance in social studies was notably higher, with a strong majority reaching the "approaches" level and a meaningful share meeting the standard. No students reached the "masters" level in any subject. This is a school in its inaugural year, and a parent may want to ask the school about its academic supports for ninth graders and its trajectory as cohorts move forward.
The school operates under ILTexas's distinctive instructional model. All students engage in a trilingual curriculum spanning English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese, alongside a leadership program rooted in the U.S. Marine Corps' 14 Leadership Traits and 11 Leadership Principles. Students wear uniforms daily. This is a deliberate pedagogical choice, not a mainstream pathway; families choosing ILTexas do so partly for that model and the structured environment it creates.
ILTexas is a tuition-free open-enrollment charter, so attendance is not determined by residential location or housing market. The Cleveland area itself has a modest housing market; home values are stable and rents moderate, typical of a rural Texas county seat. Economic conditions locally reflect broader regional patterns with moderate household incomes and current unemployment in line with national norms.
A first-year high school in a charter system built on language immersion and military-style leadership training will appeal to families seeking an alternative to conventional public school structure. The test results suggest the school is facing the academic challenges many high schools encounter in their opening year, particularly in math. How the school supports students in core academics, what interventions it offers, and what college-readiness pathways it plans to build are reasonable questions for families considering enrollment.
See more original research from School Decision →