The top reported proficiency rate is 27% in Math. The lowest is 0% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Popham El
Popham Elementary sits on Elroy Road in Del Valle, an unincorporated community in southeast Travis County at the edge of the Austin metro. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade within Del Valle ISD and draws from a community shaped by rapid growth, major industrial neighbors like Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Tesla's Giga Texas factory, and scattered residential development along FM roads and newer subdivisions. Everyday retail is thin, and the area is almost entirely car-dependent. Green space and civic life are organized around dispersed county facilities and library branches rather than any walkable town center.
The student population is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of Black, white, and Asian students. The vast majority of enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this among the highest-need elementary campuses by that measure. English learner data was not reported in the data provided, though the school's setting within a district that serves a large Spanish-speaking population is relevant context. The school includes a prekindergarten program, which matters given Del Valle ISD's district-wide effort, publicly reported and backed by City of Austin and Travis County investment, to make free, full-day dual-language Pre-K available to all interested four-year-olds in the district's boundaries, an area identified as a child care desert. That program alone represents a meaningful financial consideration for families with young children.
On state STAAR assessments, Popham's proficiency rates across tested grades and subjects are low. In third through fifth grade math, roughly a quarter to under a third of tested students reached the meets-grade-level threshold or above. Reading and language arts results were similarly modest in the upper grades and considerably lower in third grade, where testing was conducted in Spanish for a subset of students. The one reported Spanish-language science result at fifth grade showed no students reaching proficiency, though the tested group was small. Across all subjects combined, fewer than a third of students districtwide at the meets-grade-level threshold reflects where the school sits. Placed among districts in Travis County, Popham's overall proficiency index lands in the bottom quartile of that set, a gap parents may want to explore further with the school and district. Multi-year trend data was not available; only a single year of results is reported, so it is not possible to characterize whether performance has been improving, declining, or holding steady.
The district context matters here. Del Valle ISD has been growing quickly and has made several structural investments: a two-way dual language program now runs at all nine elementary campuses beginning in Pre-K, meaning Spanish-speaking and English-speaking students learn together rather than in separate tracks. A voter-approved bond is funding a second high school, though its opening has been pushed to fall 2028 due to infrastructure delays around roadway construction outside the district's control. A new Early College High School and P-TECH center, publicly reported to have received Tesla investment, opened for the 2024-2025 school year, and the district offers career-focused pathways leading to industry certifications. Those are high school opportunities, but they describe the direction of travel for students entering the district at the elementary level today.
For families considering this school, the dual language program starting in Pre-K is the most distinctive curricular feature at the elementary level. The neighborhood's rapid growth means the community around the school is changing, with large master-planned developments in various stages moving toward construction nearby. Housing values in the zip code are currently below the Texas statewide median and well below national median, and values have declined year over year, making the area among the more accessible entry points into the broader Austin metro. Rents sit at a moderate level relative to income by national affordability measures.
The low proficiency results are the clearest academic signal, and a parent would be right to ask the school directly about its instructional supports, reading interventions, and how the dual language program specifically operates at Popham.
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