Original Research by School Decision on Judson Early College Academy
Judson Early College Academy is a public high school in Live Oak, Texas, serving grades nine through twelve. The school sits in a car-oriented northeast suburb of San Antonio that has grown substantially over the past few decades and is now anchored by highway-accessible retail, Methodist Hospital's expanding medical district, and the Judson Independent School District headquarters. The campus is located on Palisades Drive in a setting shaped by suburban development and proximity to major commercial corridors.
The school enrolls a mid-sized student body with a majority Hispanic population and a substantial Black population; about half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The grade distribution shows slightly higher enrollment in the ninth grade, with steady numbers in grades ten through twelve, a typical pattern for a four-year high school.
The name Early College Academy signals a dual-enrollment pathway: the school is positioned to allow students to earn college credit while completing their high school diploma. This model can be valuable for families seeking to reduce the time and cost of a four-year degree, though the data provided does not detail which institutions the school partners with, how many students participate, or what the enrollment requirements or course sequences look like. A parent interested in this pathway would want to ask the school directly about access and eligibility.
State assessment data for 2024-25 shows strong baseline proficiency. Nearly all students in mathematics met the approaches standard; in English language arts, science, and social studies, approaches proficiency was in the high ninety percentile range. When looking at the meets standard across all subjects, performance sits solidly in the mid-to-high eighty percentile range, except in mathematics where it dips to the low sixties. The masters standard, which represents advanced performance, is lower across the board, ranging from the low twenties in social studies and mathematics to the low forties in science. This profile suggests a school where most students are clearing the foundational bar but where achievement at the highest level is modest. The school has only one year of reported data, so longer-term trends are not available.
The school serves a diverse community with meaningful economic need. Nearly half the enrolled students come from households meeting the federal lunch subsidy threshold. Given the suburban setting and the mix of home ownership and commercial activity in Live Oak, the school's demographic composition appears to reflect both the broader Bexar County population and the particular neighborhoods it draws from.
The school is not identified as a magnet program, nor is Title I status reported in the available data. A parent seeking information about school-level support services, English learner programming, special education enrollment, or discipline practices may want to contact the school directly, as these details were not available in the data examined. Information about course breadth, extracurricular offerings, and athletic programs was also not included in the provided materials. The school's dual-enrollment focus is the defining programmatic feature visible in the available record.
A family considering Judson Early College Academy might be drawn to its location in a growing suburban area with active development and job centers, and to the early college pathway itself. The modest mastery rates and the limited longitudinal data suggest a parent might also want to discuss with the school how it supports students aiming for top-tier college entrance or how it tracks longer-term college completion outcomes for its graduates. That conversation, paired with a visit to see the campus and meet staff, would round out the picture beyond what the test scores and enrollment data alone convey.
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