The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Port Houston El
Port Houston Elementary is a small school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in a Houston neighborhood on the east side of the city. It sits within Houston ISD, a district currently under state control following a takeover in 2023.
The school's student population is almost entirely Hispanic, with all students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is small, enrolling only about two hundred seventy students across its grade span. English learner and special education enrollment data were not available.
On 2024-25 STAAR assessments, the school shows uneven performance across subjects and grades. In reading, third graders performed at slightly above a midpoint level, and fifth graders performed notably stronger. Fourth graders tested on the Spanish version of the reading assessment performed substantially below grade-level proficiency. In math, performance was consistently lower: third grade data did not reach publishable numbers, while fourth and fifth graders each showed proficiency rates in the low-to-mid range. Science testing, administered only in fifth grade, showed very low proficiency. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, the school's proficiency index places it above the median among schools in Harris County.
The neighborhood around the school, in Houston's Port area, is low-income and predominantly Hispanic. Housing values in the zip code are modest, with median home values declining modestly year over year. Rental costs are similarly modest. The broader Houston area continues rapid growth, though Harris County's share of new development has been shifting outward to surrounding counties.
Houston ISD is operating under significant constraint. A state-appointed board of managers and superintendent now govern the district, with no elected local school board, and control will not return to elected leadership until the district meets state criteria around school performance, special education compliance, and governance. The district has implemented the New Education System, a standardized, highly structured instructional model with prescribed curriculum, timed daily assessments, and longer school days, now expanded to many campuses. Libraries at reformed schools have been converted partly into spaces for students with disciplinary concerns. Voters rejected the district's bond measure in November 2024, leaving aging facility needs unaddressed. In February 2026 the district announced closures and consolidations of twelve schools effective after 2025-26, citing enrollment losses and aging infrastructure.
A parent considering Port Houston Elementary would be choosing a school with modest test results, serving a high-poverty, predominantly Hispanic student body, within a district navigating major structural change and contraction. The school's reading performance in upper grades is a relative strength; math and science are areas a parent may want to look into further with the school. The broader district context—state governance, pedagogical restructuring, facility constraints, and enrollment decline—shapes the experience families would have.
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