The top reported proficiency rate is 42% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Garza El
Garza Elementary serves the early grades in Brownsville, a border city in the southernmost Rio Grande Valley. The school enrolls a small population of students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, with substantial growth in the pre-K and kindergarten years. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with a very small white enrollment and no other racial groups represented. The data provided does not include counts for students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those populations.
Academically, test results show that Garza is struggling across the subjects where data are available. In math, proficiency in third and fifth grade sits at a low level, while fifth-grade science is even lower. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency is also low, though fourth grade shows better performance. The English learner assessment data are incomplete or unavailable for some grades due to very small group sizes being tested, so a reader cannot see the full picture of how the school is serving students learning English. Overall proficiency at Garza falls in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Cameron County.
The district itself faces significant structural challenges. Brownsville ISD rejected a major bond package in late 2025, so deferred maintenance at many school buildings will continue to be handled on an emergency basis rather than through planned renovations. The district has consolidated several elementary schools to address ongoing budget deficits driven by enrollment decline, a change that affected neighborhoods and classroom sizes. After-school academy programs, which working families use for care, were reduced from fuller weekly schedules to three afternoons a week due to federal funding cuts. For 2026-2027, the district planned modest pay raises for employees and improved student-teacher ratios in middle school and fifth grade, moving from 26-to-1 to 22-to-1, a change that directly affects class size.
Brownsville itself is experiencing strong growth, with new residential development and major employer investments from aerospace, manufacturing, and the port. Housing values and rents in the area are rising, though still below state and national benchmarks. The city has invested in downtown walkability and civic life. For a family considering Garza, the school's location sits within a community undergoing real economic expansion but also one where the school system is managing resource constraints and the school building itself may reflect deferred repairs. A parent may want to look into further with the school what supports are available to address the academic proficiency gaps shown in testing, and what the current condition of the building and its facilities looks like.
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