Chisholm Trail El, Belton TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Chisholm Trail El

Chisholm Trail Elementary is a public elementary school in Belton serving students from kindergarten through fifth grade. It enrolls a student body that is roughly split between Hispanic and white students, with a smaller share of black and multiracial students. About three in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a community where economic need is substantial.

Academic proficiency at Chisholm Trail shows room for growth. On the most recent state assessments, overall proficiency across tested subjects sits in the bottom quartile among the districts in Bell County. In English language arts across third through fifth grades, proficiency rates range from the low to mid-forties in third and fourth grade but drop to around one in five by fifth grade, where students are tested in Spanish STAAR. Math proficiency is similarly variable, with fourth grade at about one in three, while a small Spanish-language cohort in third grade shows very low proficiency. Science testing at fifth grade shows proficiency around one in seven. Social studies proficiency, measured across the school, reaches about one in six at the meets level. In the aggregate, the school reports that about two in three students approach the proficient level in math, and about one in three meet proficiency. In English, about one in three meet it. Parents may want to look into what instruction and support the school is deploying in math and literacy, especially in the upper grades, to understand how those results are being addressed.

The school is one of two new elementary buildings built with the 2022 bond that voters approved without raising tax rates, meant to absorb enrollment growth across Belton ISD. Starting in the 2024-25 school year, the district implemented new attendance boundaries after a seven-month community process, redrawing which students attend which elementary. The school's enrollment is distributed evenly across grade levels, with slightly more students in grades three and four than in the earlier grades.

Belton ISD has also shaped the daily school environment in recent years. In January 2025, the district implemented a cell phone restriction developed with input from families and teachers, requiring students to store personal devices during instruction. For 2025-26, state law tightened this to a full-day restriction. Additionally, in November 2025, voters rejected three of four bond propositions aimed at addressing aging facilities, security improvements, athletic facilities, and a swim center, approving only technology device replacement. The district publicly stated that safety and learning-space needs remain unmet, a dynamic that may affect the school's physical environment and resources in coming years.

The Belton area's housing market shows median home values slightly below the state benchmark and monthly rents around fourteen hundred dollars. The mortgage-to-income ratio is roughly in line with national standards, though rent comprises a meaningful share of household budgets. These conditions reflect a community with moderate economic pressures typical of suburban and exurban Texas.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 39% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 0% · ▲ 36 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 49% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 9% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 59% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Science

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 0% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

This schoolBELTON 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 4Lower-income38%Higher-income50%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income17%Higher-income50%33 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income42%Higher-income56%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income40%7 pp gap