Original Research by School Decision on Graduation Prep Academy Navarro
Graduation Prep Academy Navarro is a small alternative high school serving grades nine through twelve within Austin ISD. The school enrolls a modest number of students, with a majority in grades ten through twelve. The enrollment is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of white and Black students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
This is an alternative school, meaning it serves students whose needs or circumstances fall outside the traditional high school pathway. Alternative schools typically admit students who have struggled in conventional settings, been off-track to graduation, or need a different instructional pace or structure. The school is situated in north-central Austin and is operated by Austin ISD.
On the most recent state assessments, overall proficiency across tested subjects reached the approaching standard level. In mathematics, student results clustered near the "approaches" threshold, with very few reaching "masters." In English language arts, proficiency was markedly lower; performance concentrated in the "approaches" range with minimal demonstration of higher achievement levels. Science showed a notably different pattern: a large share of students reached the "approaches" level, with roughly a third meeting the standard. Social studies results were suppressed by the state, typically because sample sizes were too small to report publicly.
The pattern across subjects reflects what is common in alternative school settings: meaningful variation in how students perform depending on subject matter, with some areas of relative strength and others where students are still building foundational skills. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about how it structures its mathematics and reading instruction, and how it supports students working toward proficiency in those core areas.
State assessment data represents one point in time, and in a small school, year-to-year movement can be pronounced. The school does not yet have a graduation rate reported in the available data, a gap typical when an alternative school is newer to state reporting or when cohorts are very small.
Austin is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States, shaped by rapid growth in technology employment, a major state government presence, and the University of Texas at Austin. The city has a strong downtown anchored by the state capitol and a network of walkable neighborhoods, though much of the metro remains car-dependent. Housing values are above the state benchmark and rents have edged downward slightly in the past year. The broader district context includes a recent major school bond, a property tax increase approved in 2024 to fund staff raises, and a consolidation plan affecting enrollment in coming years as the district responds to declining student numbers over the past decade.
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