West Memorial El, Katy TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on West Memorial El

West Memorial Elementary is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in Katy, a suburb west of Houston in Harris County. The school enrolls roughly eight hundred students, with a substantial share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is diverse: roughly two-fifths Hispanic, just over one-quarter Black, about one-fifth White, and smaller shares Asian and multiracial.

State assessment results from the most recent year show a profile of mixed performance. In reading, the school's overall proficiency hovers around the middle of the range: third graders achieved proficiency at a modest rate, fourth graders performed slightly better, and fifth graders' results were lower. Math results are weaker. Third- and fourth-grade math proficiency sits in the low range, and the handful of fifth graders tested in Spanish-language math showed no proficiency. Science proficiency at fifth grade is particularly low. Across all subjects and grades, the school's proficiency index places it below the midpoint among the county's districts. The data suggests that while some students are meeting grade-level standards, many are working below them, especially in mathematics and science.

Katy Independent School District, which operates this school, is a fast-growing district that recently secured voter approval for a major bond package designed as a zero-tax-rate increase, funding four new schools, renovations to two dozen aging campuses, and technology. For two consecutive years through the current school year the district has maintained a flat property tax rate, a factor families might weigh when choosing the area. This spring the district issued every student in grades three through twelve a school-owned Chromebook and banned personal cell phone use during the instructional day; a year later that policy tightened further to bar personal devices from school property entirely during instruction.

The district has also made curriculum and materials decisions that represent significant changes in school environment. In 2023 the board overhauled its library and book-selection policies, pausing new purchases for content review and requiring parental permission for classroom-library checkouts. After children's classics were flagged for removal, the board refined the standard but maintained an active materials-review framework. The same year, the board approved a gender identity policy requiring staff to notify parents if a student identifies as transgender or requests different names or pronouns, and establishing that students use facilities corresponding to biological sex. This policy drew a federal civil rights investigation and has been a point of controversy in the community.

Families considering West Memorial should understand that the school faces meaningful academic gaps, particularly in math and science, and may want to discuss with the school what support or intervention is in place for students not yet proficient. They should also be aware that the district is in the midst of substantial change around materials access, device policy, and questions of identity and inclusion—changes that reflect particular values and that families will weigh differently depending on their own priorities. The housing market in the area remains moderately priced for the region, though values have declined slightly in recent months.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 58% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 20% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 19% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 67% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 38% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 37% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 46% · ▼ 26 pts below district

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

This schoolKATY ISD, 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 3Lower-income0%Higher-income68%68 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income63%25 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income59%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income26%Higher-income40%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income21%Higher-income56%35 pp gap