Jack & Sharon Rhoads El, Katy TX

Original Research by School Decision on Jack & Sharon Rhoads El

Jack & Sharon Rhoads Elementary is a public school serving pre-K through fifth grade in Katy, a suburban area west of Houston. The school enrolls a diverse student body in which a large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student composition is substantially Hispanic, Black, and Asian. The school is part of Katy ISD, a district in Harris County that has recently made several major policy and infrastructure investments.

On state assessments administered in 2024-25, proficiency results across the tested grades show modest attainment. In math, students in third grade achieved proficiency at a below-average rate, fourth grade lower still, while fifth grade performance improved somewhat. In English language arts, the school tested small cohorts on Spanish-language assessments; third-grade results were zero proficient, fourth grade around half, and fifth grade notably stronger. Science results from fifth grade, also on Spanish assessments, showed less than half proficient. Across all subjects and grades combined, the school reports that a solid majority of students achieved at least the "approaches" proficiency level, about two-fifths reached the "meets" level, and about one-seventh earned "masters." In math specifically, only about one in eight students mastered the content. When positioned against the other districts in Harris County, this school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among county peers, a meaningful strength in a diverse urban-suburban county. However, a parent may want to look into the school's support systems and instructional strategies in math, where attainment lags behind English language arts, and understand the Spanish-language assessment results in context, as they reflect a smaller tested population.

Rhoads is a full elementary school of moderate size that includes pre-K, so families with younger children have continuity within the building. The school sits in a zip code where median home values are substantial but have moderated slightly, and median rent is moderate relative to regional benchmarks. Housing remains relatively affordable when weighed against area median income. The area remains an active real-estate market with reasonable supply and modest demand swings.

Katy ISD as a whole is navigating significant growth and has positioned itself around infrastructure and technology. In November 2023 voters approved two major bond propositions that will fund four new schools, renovations to two dozen aging campuses, security upgrades, and a one-to-one Chromebook program for grades three through twelve. The district also cut property tax rates in 2023-24 and held the rate flat for the following two school years, a meaningful cost factor for homebuyers. Starting in 2024-25 the district moved to a device-based learning model and banned personal cell phones during instructional time; for 2025-26 that policy tightened further to prohibit personal devices anywhere on campus during the school day. The district has also adopted a gender identity policy that requires staff to notify parents if a student identifies as transgender or requests different names or pronouns, and that policy is currently under federal Title IX investigation. The district overhauled its library and instructional-materials review process, though it revised the book-removal standard after early decisions to remove children's classics drew public attention. These shifts in pedagogy, materials access, and values represent meaningful changes families weigh when choosing a school, and they reflect ongoing district-level debate about curriculum and classroom environment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 58% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 20% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 19% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 67% · ▼ 67 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 42 pts below county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 38% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 37% · ▲ 26 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 46% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above 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 4Lower-income41%Higher-income55%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income47%Higher-income65%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income43%Higher-income70%27 pp gap