Santa Fe El, Cleveland TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Santa Fe El

Santa Fe Elementary serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in Cleveland, a town in Liberty County. The school has a small-to-mid-sized enrollment and draws almost entirely from low-income families, with nearly all students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with small numbers of white and Black students and minimal representation of other races.

On the most recent state assessments, Santa Fe's proficiency results are low across the board. In English language arts, fourth graders reached proficiency at a modest rate, while fifth graders performed substantially better, showing strength at that grade level. In math, fourth graders showed limited proficiency, and fifth graders scored below proficiency benchmarks. In fifth-grade science, proficiency was extremely low. Across all tested subjects and grade levels combined, the school's overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Liberty County.

The school's broader performance pattern suggests uneven capacity. Fifth graders achieved measurable success in reading, a potential bright spot. Yet results in the lower grades and in mathematics and science point to systematic academic gaps that deserve close examination. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about how these disparities across grade levels and subjects have developed and what targeted support the school is implementing to build stronger foundations.

Santa Fe is situated within Cleveland ISD, a district experiencing extraordinary structural stress. The district has undergone explosive enrollment growth driven by large residential development, quadrupling in size over recent years. This expansion has overwhelmed existing facilities, forcing heavy reliance on portable classrooms, causing bus overcrowding, and triggering teacher turnover well above state averages. Voters have rejected multiple bond measures meant to fund new construction, leaving the district unable to build its way out of crowding. A planned bond in 2025 was suspended after the district's planning firm withdrew. Recently, enrollment growth has slowed, which may provide some relief, though the backlog of deferred capacity remains acute. The state also authorized a large charter expansion in the area, offering families an alternative to the traditional district.

For families considering Santa Fe, the broader context matters considerably. The school itself is a regular public elementary serving a very high-poverty student population with bilingual assessment options. Its academic results show vulnerability, particularly in grades three and four and in science. However, the district's infrastructure challenges, driven by rapid unplanned growth and failed facility bonds, create a crowded, under-resourced environment that affects all schools within it. A family weighing this school should understand both its specific academic profile and the operational constraints of the district it belongs to.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 422%

School 22% · District 23% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 7% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 322%

School 22% · District 9% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 23% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 23% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Science

Grade 52%

School 2% · District 7% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

This schoolCLEVELAND 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

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income24%Higher-income20%4 pp gap