The top reported proficiency rate is 48% in English language arts. The lowest is 19% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Almeda El
Almeda Elementary serves an enrollment that is overwhelming majority Hispanic and Black, with nearly all students qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch. The school sits in the Houston market with relatively modest home values and a rental market geared toward affordability. The neighborhood itself is mixed-use, reflective of Houston's absence of traditional zoning, with residential, commercial, and industrial parcels coexisting in close proximity.
The school's state test results from the most recent year show mixed performance across elementary grades and subjects. In English language arts, third grade showed about half of students meeting proficiency; fourth grade results are suppressed due to very small sample size in the Spanish-language test; fifth grade was stronger at about half proficient. Math performance is less consistent: third grade in Spanish shows around a quarter of tested students proficient, fourth grade about half, and fifth grade roughly two-fifths. Science, tested only in fifth grade, shows proficiency at roughly one-fifth of students. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, the school's proficiency index places it above the midpoint among Harris County districts, meaning academic outcomes are neither the strongest in the region nor the lowest, but solidly in the middle range.
The school operates as part of Houston ISD, which faces significant structural change. In June 2023 the Texas Education Agency took over the district, dissolving the elected school board and installing a state-appointed board of managers and superintendent. That takeover remains in place and is extended through at least June 2027. Parents have no elected local board representation, and control returns to elected leadership only after the district meets state criteria including no chronically failing campuses, special education compliance, and improved governance. During the takeover, the district has implemented the New Education System, a standardized instructional model with scripted lessons, daily timed quizzes, and longer school days, now running in dozens of campuses with elements influencing instruction across nearly all schools. The model brings significantly higher per-student funding to participating schools. The takeover years have also seen accelerated enrollment declines across the district, and in February 2026 the board voted to close or consolidate a dozen campuses effective after the current school year, citing enrollment loss and aging facilities.
Whether Almeda is part of the New Education System rollout, what its specific instructional model looks like, and whether it is among the schools targeted for closure were not apparent in the available data. A parent would want to inquire directly with the school about these district-level changes and their on-the-ground effect on daily instruction and stability.
State testing data covers only grades three through five; prekindergarten through second grade are not state-tested. No trend data was available, so one cannot see whether proficiency has been rising, falling, or flat. The school's civil rights compliance status and information about special education services, English learner supports, discipline practices, or library and facility conditions are not included in the data reviewed. These would be important questions to ask the school directly, particularly given the statewide changes to library services and behavioral discipline spaces that have been rolled out in reform schools.
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