Alto Middle, Alto TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Alto Middle

Alto Middle serves grades five through eight in a small rural school in East Texas. With enrollment around that of a rural middle school for its region, the student body is ethnically diverse: roughly equal shares of Hispanic, Black, and White students, with a smaller share of two or more races. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the surrounding community.

The school sits within Alto ISD, which adopted a four-day school week beginning in 2023-24, a change that remains in effect and affects family scheduling around meal access and child-care needs. Voters in the district approved a property tax rate reduction in 2021.

On state testing, Alto Middle's results show a school with uneven academic performance across grades and subjects. In math, eighth graders score well; roughly three-quarters reach proficiency. Fifth graders in math perform moderately, with less than half meeting standards, and sixth and seventh graders struggle significantly, with only a small share proficient. In English language arts, eighth graders reach about half proficiency, fifth graders just over two-fifths, seventh graders about one-third, and sixth graders one-third. Science testing shows fifth graders at less than half proficiency and eighth graders at about three-fifths. Social studies testing, administered only in eighth grade, shows a notable gap: only a small fraction of students meet standards.

Taken together, the school shows particular strength in eighth-grade math and science and moderate performance in eighth-grade English language arts. Sixth and seventh graders, by contrast, face steeper academic challenges in math. A parent may want to look into further what support structures or interventions the school has in place for students in those middle grades, where proficiency drops notably.

Within Cherokee County's districts, Alto Middle's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among the county's comparable schools, suggesting that academic outcomes here trail some peer districts but reflect challenges common to small rural settings.

The school's context is a compact rural town with limited commercial services and dining options; residents rely on nearby Lufkin for major shopping and healthcare. The Caddo Mounds State Historic Site, a few miles away, is the area's defining cultural and civic anchor. Population in Alto has been stable to modestly growing. Housing values have declined modestly over the past year. The local economy centers on ranching, timber, and oil and gas, with the school district itself a significant employer.

Alto Middle fits families seeking rural community stability and direct peer environments, with an understanding that academic proficiency varies meaningfully across grade levels and that the school operates on a four-day week, a structural difference worth factoring into family planning.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 15 pts below state median

Grade 715%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 874%

School 74% · District 74%

▲ 32 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 19 pts below state median

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 51%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Science

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 32%

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 858%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 16 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 7 pts below state median

This schoolALTO ISD, 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 5Lower-income29%Higher-income78%49 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income27%Higher-income67%40 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income32%Higher-income57%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income41%Higher-income88%47 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income36%Higher-income67%31 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income13%Higher-income50%37 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income71%Higher-income83%12 pp gap