Highland Forest El, San Antonio TX

Original Research by School Decision on Highland Forest El

Highland Forest Elementary serves early grades in South San Antonio, in the fast-growing East Central Independent School District. It is a school of just under seven hundred students drawn heavily from the immediate area, with a large majority qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and a student body that is overwhelmingly Hispanic. The school's grades span pre-K through fifth.

On state assessments, proficiency in reading and math sits around the middle of the school's tested grades. In third grade, about half of students met or exceeded proficiency in both subjects. Fourth grade performs somewhat stronger, with proficiency rates running in the upper half-range for both reading and math. Fifth grade returns to around half proficient in both reading and math, though the same fifth-grade cohort showed a proficiency rate near zero in science, a result that a parent may want to look into further with the school, as it is a significant outlier and does not align with performance in other subjects. Overall, looking across all assessed grades and subjects, the school sits in the top quartile of elementary schools in Bexar County for proficiency—a position that reflects stronger performance than the median school in the county, even though raw proficiency levels remain modest.

The school sits in South San Antonio, part of the San Antonio metro's sprawling suburban footprint. The area is characterized by newer single-family subdivisions and car-dependent development. Housing values in the 78223 zip code are below the Texas state median and below the national median; rental rates are similarly modest. The local economy is anchored by healthcare, military installations at Joint Base San Antonio, and growing IT and professional services. San Antonio overall is one of the fastest-growing U.S. cities, and East Central ISD is experiencing enrollment growth that has strained capacity district-wide.

The district itself is in transition. Voters approved a bond in May 2025 to build a new high school and two elementary schools to relieve overcrowding, with the new high school opening in 2028. The district carries the lowest property tax rate and lowest per-pupil spending in Bexar County; a November 2024 bond rejection and subsequent November 2025 defeat of an operating tax increase have prolonged budget constraints. However, the district's property tax rate has fallen substantially in recent years due to state tax compression, lowering school tax bills for homeowners. For 2026-27, the district is opening new choice-pathway schools, including a college-and-career preparatory magnet middle school where all students take honors-level coursework, and a new career and technical education building.

Highland Forest operates within a district managing rapid growth and resource constraints while beginning to diversify its academic offerings. The school's test results suggest adequate early-grade instruction in reading and math, though the science result warrants clarification. For families in the immediate area, the school provides neighborhood access to pre-K and elementary grades in a low-cost housing and tax environment, within a district that is beginning to build more specialized pathways in the middle grades and beyond.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 34% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 35% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 34% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 38% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 41% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 51% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 51%

School 1% · District 14% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

This schoolEAST CENTRAL 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 3Lower-income55%Higher-income46%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income61%Higher-income53%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income55%Higher-income46%9 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income52%Higher-income46%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income67%Higher-income53%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income55%Higher-income41%14 pp gap