The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in Math. The lowest is 43% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Charter Oak El
Charter Oak Elementary sits on the west side of Temple, a part of the city where Belton ISD has been absorbing rapid residential growth. The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade and is a conventional public elementary within the district, not a charter or magnet school despite what the name might suggest.
Temple itself is one of Central Texas's fastest-growing cities, publicly reported as having seen its highest population increase among Central Texas communities in recent years. That growth has pushed west toward Belton Lake, which is precisely where Charter Oak is situated. New subdivisions like Pepper Creek are part of that story, and the school's attendance zone reflects the boundary realignment Belton ISD completed for the 2024-25 school year after a seven-month community process. Families should verify their address against current boundaries if they are new to the area, since reassignments were part of that process.
The enrollment is a mid-sized elementary for its grade band. The student body is roughly split between white and Hispanic students, with smaller shares of Black students and students of two or more races. Around two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this school at a moderately mixed economic mix for the area. English learner and special education population data were not available in the data provided.
On the Texas STAAR assessment, the picture is mixed but has a clear pattern. Reading and math both show improvement as students move through the upper grades. Third-grade math proficiency is relatively low, and the third-grade reading results come from a small group tested in Spanish rather than English, making that particular figure hard to read as a school-wide signal. By fifth grade, both reading and math proficiency are meaningfully stronger, well above where third grade sits. Science at fifth grade lands at roughly the midpoint. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, Charter Oak's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among Belton ISD's peers within Bell County's districts. The share of students reaching the state's "approaches" benchmark across all subjects is solid; the share reaching "masters" grade level is more modest. A parent wanting to understand whether this trajectory holds for their child's specific grade and cohort would do well to ask the school directly about its academic support structures.
On the facilities and infrastructure side, Belton ISD's November 2025 bond election delivered a complicated result that directly affects Charter Oak's building environment. Voters approved only the technology replacement proposition and rejected the larger measures that would have funded aging facilities, security upgrades, HVAC, roofing, and campus modernization. The district publicly stated that its safety and learning-space needs remain unaddressed, so families should expect that conversation to continue at the district level.
The 2022 bond that funded new elementary campuses passed without a tax rate increase, publicly credited to rising property values from exactly the growth Temple is experiencing. Home values in the zip code have recently dipped slightly and sit below both the state and national benchmarks, making this part of Central Texas relatively accessible by comparison, though a buyer's monthly carrying costs still depend on current mortgage rates which have remained elevated.
Belton ISD put a district-wide cell phone policy in place during the 2024-25 school year, developed with substantial parent and teacher input. For the 2025-26 school year, Texas state law tightened this further to a full instructional-day restriction. At the elementary level the practical effect is likely modest, but it signals a district culture that has moved deliberately on classroom attention.
Graduation rate and chronic absenteeism data are not applicable here because Charter Oak stops at fifth grade. No program offerings data was available for this school specifically.
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