Memorial Middle, Harlingen TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Memorial Middle

Memorial Middle serves grades six through eight in Harlingen, a city anchored by healthcare, education, manufacturing, and aerospace sectors in the Rio Grande Valley. The school enrolls a student body that is substantially Hispanic, with a high share of students from economically disadvantaged households. Housing in the Harlingen area is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, and rental costs align with regional employment levels.

On state assessments, Memorial Middle shows uneven performance across subjects. Reading (ELA) is a relative strength. Sixth grade reads at a rate typical of early middle years, and proficiency holds above half across the grade band. Math is weaker, with proficiency declining as students advance: sixth graders show about half meeting the standard, seventh graders slightly less, and eighth graders about a third. Science shows half of eighth graders meeting the standard. The most significant challenge appears in social studies, where only about a quarter of eighth graders achieved proficiency. On a broader scale comparing across tested subjects and grade levels, Memorial Middle's overall proficiency sits above the midpoint among Cameron County's districts.

The school is part of Harlingen CISD, a district navigating substantial financial pressure after a crisis that drained reserves in prior years. The district has implemented cost reductions and staffing adjustments, and the Texas Education Agency lowered its financial rating from its historical 'A' standing to a 'C' in 2025, a marker of financial constraint that affects school resources and stability. At the same time, the district launched a social-emotional learning initiative called Capturing Kids' Hearts in 2022, and multiple elementary campuses have earned national recognition for that program. The scope of that program's reach into middle school is not detailed in available data, though the philosophy of relationship-building and classroom culture may influence the environment families encounter.

A parent may want to look into the specific support and intervention structures available for math, particularly as students progress to eighth grade, where proficiency shows meaningful decline. Enrollment data do not show the share of students receiving special education or English learner services, so prospective families would benefit from asking the school directly about those programs and the staffing dedicated to them given the district's recent position reductions.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 38% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 41% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 30% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 57% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 758%

School 58% · District 56% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 58% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 41% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 27% · ▼ 3 pts below district

even with state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

This schoolHARLINGEN CISD, 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-income58%Higher-income100%42 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income55%Higher-income85%30 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income49%Higher-income90%41 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income42%Higher-income73%31 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income39%Higher-income77%38 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income36%Higher-income67%31 pp gap