T R U C E Learning Ctr, Fort Worth TX

Original Research by School Decision on T R U C E Learning Ctr

T R U C E Learning Center is an alternative secondary school serving grades seven through twelve in Fort Worth, operated by Castleberry ISD. The school enrolls a small number of students, with the peer group split fairly evenly between middle and high school grades. A substantial majority of the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller white population.

This is a place built for students who are not thriving in traditional school settings. Alternative schools exist to serve young people who have struggled with attendance, behavior, academics, or engagement in a standard classroom, and whose families are seeking a different educational structure or pacing. The data here, while limited in scope, shows the school is engaged with students whose academic preparation is well below state proficiency standards on the Texas STAAR assessment. On state tests in the most recent year, no middle-school students in grade seven achieved proficiency in either math or English language arts; grade eight showed a single proficiency in ELA but none in math, science, or social studies; and grade six had too few test-takers for reportable results. These are real learning gaps, and a parent considering this school needs to understand that this is not a place for remediation leading quickly back to grade-level performance on state tests. Rather, it is a setting designed around engagement, re-enrollment, and often credit recovery for students whose relationship to school has broken down.

What matters at an alternative school is not whether it produces state test proficiency at competitive rates, but whether it successfully stabilizes attendance, rebuilds trust, advances credit accumulation, and creates a pathway toward graduation. The school does not report graduation rates, attendance data, or discipline records in the available data, so a parent cannot yet see how well it executes that mission. This is a significant gap; a family exploring enrollment should ask the school directly about its graduation rate, how long students typically stay enrolled, what support structures exist for credit recovery, and how staff approach the behavioral and academic re-engagement that alternative placement is meant to address.

Fort Worth itself is a city in the midst of rapid growth, with major aerospace, defense, government, and healthcare employment anchoring the economy. Housing costs have risen sharply, though they remain lower than some peer Texas metros. The immediate area around the school, the 76114 zip code, reflects the city's broader affordability: median home values are modest compared to the national benchmark, and rents sit somewhat below national norms, though both are climbing.

Castleberry ISD, the school's parent district, approved a substantial bond in 2024 to reconstruct its high school, a multi-year capital project with completion expected in 2026. The district also raised experienced teacher salaries and has launched a STEM academy magnet program at the middle school level. These are signs of active district investment, though they do not directly affect this alternative school. What families should verify with TRUCE directly is the school's staffing, the qualifications of its alternative-education specialists, whether counseling or mental health support is embedded in the program, and what partnerships or pathways exist for students who later want to transition back to a traditional school or move toward early postsecondary options such as dual credit or CTE. An alternative placement is not permanent; understanding the exit strategy is critical.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

Not publicly reportedCohort of 1 student · Class of 2021

The federal source does not publish a graduation rate for cohorts this small. The cohort size is shown for context.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,779 schools plotted. 59 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 9% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 35% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 38% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 49 pts below state median · ▼ 49 pts below county median

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 44% · ▼ 24 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 32% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 16% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

This schoolCASTLEBERRY 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.