The top reported proficiency rate is 35% in Math. The lowest is 5% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Elodia R Chapa El
Elodia R Chapa Elementary serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Mission, a mid-sized Rio Grande Valley city with a young median age and a heavily Mexican-origin population. The school itself serves a small student body for its grade band, with the vast majority of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is entirely Hispanic.
The school is part of La Joya Independent School District, which is currently under state control. In February 2024 the Texas Education Agency removed the district's elected school board and installed a state-appointed board of managers and superintendent after substantiating fraud and conflicts of interest by prior trustees, including a major financial scandal involving millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks on an LED lighting contract. The TEA extended this state control through February 2028. Concurrently, the district is shrinking due to enrollment loss accumulated over a decade. In January 2026 the board voted to close three other elementary schools and reassign their students, with Elodia R Chapa continuing to operate but facing zoning and enrollment adjustments that families should expect to monitor.
State testing data from the most recent school year shows performance that requires careful reading. The school administered math and ELA assessments to third, fourth, and fifth graders, and a science assessment to fifth graders. Math proficiency in fourth grade sat at about one-third of tested students meeting or exceeding the standard; math results for third and fifth grade were too sparse to report. ELA proficiency was low: only about one-sixth of third graders and one-eighth of fourth graders met or exceeded the standard, while about one-half of fifth graders did. Science proficiency in fifth grade was very low, with only a small handful of students meeting the standard. Aggregated across all subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quartile among the county's school districts.
The school's testing results reflect a population where many students are likely navigating bilingual instruction. Some students were tested on STAAR in Spanish and others in English, a split that may reflect dual-language programming, transitional support, or individual learner readiness. The uneven results across grade levels and subjects suggest grade-level or cohort variation, or differences in language of assessment, rather than uniform performance across the school. A parent may want to speak with the school directly about how reading and math instruction are structured, what support is available for emerging bilingual learners, and what the testing results mean for a student entering the school.
The community context is one of economic constraint. The median home value in Mission's zip code is substantially below both the state and national benchmarks, and rental costs are modest. A substantial majority of the school's students are from families qualifying for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting the economic profile of Mission itself, where health care, retail trade, and educational services are the dominant employment sectors. The broader metro region (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission) is forecast to add jobs over the next five years, but the city itself has seen slow population growth.
Elodia R Chapa is a small, neighborhood-serving elementary in a district undergoing significant restructuring and governance change. Its academic results in the most recent year were weak across the board and notably below the county median, a concern a parent should weigh carefully. The school's bilingual or dual-language context is a material feature that shapes both instruction and testing, and families are best served by asking the school directly how that operates and what outcomes the school tracks beyond state assessments. The district's current state takeover and ongoing school closures mean that enrollment and zoning may shift, and families should stay informed about any future boundary changes that could affect which school their child attends.
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