Callisburg Middle, Callisburg TX

Original Research by School Decision on Callisburg Middle

Callisburg Middle serves grades six through eight in a very small rural community in northeastern Cooke County, anchoring civic and school life in the town of Callisburg itself. The school enrolls about low-to-mid-hundreds of students, roughly balanced across the three grades. Just under half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The population is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic population and few students of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Special education and English-learner enrollment data were not available in the school's directory.

The school's state assessment results show mixed performance across subjects. In English language arts, students performed better: about half the sixth graders met or exceeded proficiency, with performance softening slightly as students advanced through seventh and eighth grade. Math results were weaker across all grades, with less than half the sixth-grade cohort meeting proficiency and performance declining to roughly one-third by eighth grade. Eighth-grade science results were comparable to math at roughly the midpoint, but eighth-grade social studies stood out as a notably weak area, with only about one-sixth of students proficient. When looking across all tested grades and subjects, the school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among the eight districts in Cooke County, suggesting middling performance relative to district peers in the county.

Across state assessments, the largest share of students reached the "approaches proficiency" level in all subjects, with meaningful but minority shares reaching "meets" proficiency and only small portions attaining "masters." This pattern holds even in English language arts, the school's stronger subject. The results suggest that while many students are on a learning trajectory, a substantial share are not yet meeting grade-level standards, particularly in mathematics and social studies.

Callisburg sits in a landscape of very modest housing values and rents relative to state and national benchmarks. The area is car-dependent and rural, centered on intersecting farm-to-market roads rather than a downtown streetscape. Civic anchors include Parkhill Park, a ten-acre community park, and the Callisburg Community Improvement Center where city council meets. The school itself is a major employer and anchor institution. Population has been small and volatile historically, though recent estimates suggest a modest uptick since 2020.

In May 2025, voters approved a bond that funds campus safety, aging facilities, and student programs in agriculture, fine arts, and athletics. This represents a significant local investment in the school's physical plant and extracurricular offerings after earlier bond attempts failed. The new tax rate will be the lowest among nearby districts with high schools, though families will see a direct increase in property tax bills to support the improvements over time.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 40%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 7 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 51%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 40%

▼ 15 pts below state median

Science

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 3 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 7 pts below state median

This schoolCALLISBURG 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 6Lower-income47%Higher-income53%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income30%Higher-income56%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income47%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income47%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income24%Higher-income53%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income38%9 pp gap