Zan Wesley Holmes Jr Middle, Dallas TX

Original Research by School Decision on Zan Wesley Holmes Jr Middle

Zan Wesley Holmes Jr Middle sits in southern Dallas, serving grades six through eight as a regular public school within Dallas ISD. The school enrolls a small population for its grade band, with a heavily concentrated student body: the vast majority identifies as Hispanic, and nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a low-income enrollment.

The academic picture is mixed and warrants careful attention. Across tested subjects in 2024-25, the school's overall proficiency rate sits below the midpoint among the county's districts. The performance varies sharply by grade and subject. In English language arts, sixth graders reach proficiency at a modest rate, while seventh graders fall significantly lower; eighth graders recover to roughly the midpoint. Math shows a steeper challenge in the middle grades—sixth graders hover below where parents might hope, and seventh graders face particular difficulty, while eighth graders reach about the midpoint. Science proficiency in eighth grade is low. Social studies proficiency in eighth grade is among the weakest results the school reports. The data captures only one year, so trends over time are not available; a parent may want to ask the school directly about multi-year performance and whether recent curriculum or instructional changes are beginning to show results.

Dallas ISD has made recent shifts that may affect what happens in this classroom. The district adopted a new mathematics curriculum to improve skill mastery and reduced reliance on test-prep activities by eliminating internal assessments; teachers now focus less on "teaching to the test." The district also moved to an opt-out model for advanced courses, automatically enrolling students who score well on state assessments into honors math, reading, science, and social studies—an equity-focused change that expands access to college-prep pathways. In May 2026, voters approved a historic bond funding 26 new school replacements, portable classroom elimination, and facility upgrades over the next several years, though this school's inclusion in that pipeline was not specified in the available data.

The school's location in southern Dallas places it in a part of the city marked by major employment and development activity. Southern Dallas hosts substantial employers including Methodist Hospitals, the VA health system, Amazon, UNT Dallas, and Frito-Lay. The area is seeing significant new investment, particularly the University Hills development adjacent to the UNT Dallas campus, which includes hundreds of new homes and apartments. The broader Dallas housing market shows a modest recent decline in home values, though affordability remains moderate relative to national benchmarks. Median household income across the nation is steady, and unemployment in the Dallas metro is near long-term averages.

For a family considering this school, the key question is whether the academic profile—low overall proficiency, uneven performance by grade, and particular weakness in math in the seventh-grade cohort—aligns with the academic support their child needs. The school's heavy concentration of economically disadvantaged students and English learners (though the count of English learners was not available) shapes the peer environment and likely the school's resource focus. The recent district-level curriculum changes and the broader opt-out honors policy create potential pathways for strong students to access advanced work, but the baseline proficiency data suggests many students are not yet reaching grade-level standards. A parent would benefit from discussing with the school what interventions are in place for students below proficiency, what professional development teachers have received around the new math curriculum, and what the school's trajectory looks like over the coming year.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 32% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 77%

School 7% · District 7%

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 39% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 48% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 48% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 52% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 37% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 27% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

This schoolDALLAS 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-income41%Higher-income0%41 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income20%9 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income25%Higher-income17%8 pp gap