The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on H O Whitehurst El
H.O. Whitehurst Elementary sits on South Ellis Street in Groesbeck, the small county seat of Limestone County in Central Texas. The school serves pre-kindergarten through third grade, which means it catches children at the earliest stages of formal schooling before they move on to the district's upper campuses. Because the school covers only these early grades, a graduation rate does not apply here, and state testing results come only from third grade, the single tested year in this grade band.
On the Texas STAAR assessment, third graders at Whitehurst are reading and doing math at rates that sit above the midpoint among districts in Limestone County, based on the available comparison data. That is a meaningful position in a county with multiple districts, and it suggests the school is holding its own relative to its immediate neighbors. Still, the share of students reaching the "meets grade level" standard in both reading and math is well below a majority, and the share reaching the highest "masters" performance level is quite small. A parent reviewing this would see a school where most third graders are approaching grade-level expectations on the state exam, but fewer than half are meeting them outright. Multi-year trend data was not available, so whether performance is improving, holding steady, or declining cannot be assessed from what is here. That is a reasonable question to bring directly to the school.
The student body is a meaningful size for a PK-3 campus, with enrollment spread across the early grades. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Whitehurst in familiar territory for rural Central Texas schools and is relevant context for thinking about the support needs the staff is managing. Data on English learner enrollment and students receiving special education services were not reported in the available data, so those dimensions of the student population are not characterized here. The school is not a charter and carries no magnet designation.
Groesbeck itself is a spare, car-dependent small town with a courthouse-square commercial core. Daily staples are available locally, but larger shopping means driving roughly forty miles to Waco. The economy is anchored by public administration, health care, and the regional energy sector, including a large coal-fired generating station in the county. The school district is itself one of the larger local employers. The housing market is small and, by publicly reported data, home values here run well below both the Texas and national medians, with prices having edged slightly lower year over year. That affordability picture is real and affects who can and does live within the district boundaries.
Families considering a home in the district should know that voters narrowly approved a bond package in November 2025. Publicly reported details describe the bond as covering district-wide facility renovations, HVAC replacements, drainage and infrastructure repairs, security upgrades, and turf fields. The bond carries a tax rate increase on the debt service side of the district's levy. For homeowners at or near the average assessed value in the district, the publicly reported estimate is a modest but real monthly increase. Residents who are over 65 or disabled with an approved homestead exemption were reported to see no change. This is an active, multi-year capital commitment and a concrete factor for any family evaluating the cost of living in the district.
Program offerings for Whitehurst were not included in the available data, so what enrichment, intervention, or specialized instruction the school provides beyond its core curriculum is not described here. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available. A parent wanting to understand attendance patterns, the school's approach to early literacy intervention, or what supports exist for students who are struggling to meet grade-level expectations would be well-served by asking those questions directly at the campus level.
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