Phelan El, Richmond TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Phelan El

Phelan Elementary is a small, mixed-enrollment elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Richmond, the Fort Bend County seat. The enrollment sits at a modest level for its grade band, with a student population that is diverse: roughly a third Black, just under a third Hispanic, roughly a fifth Asian, and the remainder white or multiracial. Nearly half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a socioeconomically mixed enrollment reflecting both Richmond's historic core and its rapid suburban growth.

The school's academic profile shows uneven performance across subjects. In English language arts, Phelan sits in a stronger position: third-grade reading proficiency is solid, and the school reaches middle-range proficiency in fourth and fifth grades. Mathematics is the softer area. Third-grade math proficiency runs around the school's ELA level, but fourth grade dips noticeably lower—less than half the students reach proficiency—before recovering somewhat in fifth grade. Science, tested only in fifth grade, presents a genuine concern: fewer than a quarter of students meet or exceed proficiency, which is substantially below the school's performance in other subjects. Overall, the school's proficiency index across tested grades and subjects falls below the midpoint when compared to other districts in Fort Bend County, suggesting academic support is a consideration for families.

The school's position within Lamar Consolidated Independent School District reflects a district in intense growth. Lamar CISD passed major bond packages in 2022 and again in 2025 to fund eight new campuses and a districtwide career and technical education center opening fall 2026. The district is adding roughly that many students each year and regularly redraws attendance boundaries; families at Phelan may want to verify their zoning via the district's address-lookup tool, as rezoning for new secondary schools in the Fulshear area is underway for the 2027-28 school year. The district has held its property tax rate stable for three consecutive years, among the lowest in the Houston area, though rising property appraisals may still increase household tax bills.

Richmond itself is experiencing rapid residential development. Master-planned communities like Harvest Green and Candela are expanding substantially, introducing new families and commercial activity while the historic downtown along Morton Street remains a civic and cultural anchor. The median home value in the area has declined slightly year-over-year, though housing remains moderately priced relative to national benchmarks. Schools sit increasingly on campuses embedded within these newer residential developments rather than clustered near the historic downtown.

Phelan has no state testing data available for kindergarten through second grade, as those grades are not assessed under Texas's STAAR. The school also has no reported data on special education enrollment or English learner population, and no attendance or discipline information was available. A parent may want to look into these details directly with the school to understand the breadth of support services and overall school climate. Program offerings beyond the core academic day were not provided in the available data.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 27% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 24% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 13% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 31% · ▲ 41 pts above district

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

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 43% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 33% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Science

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 8% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

This schoolLAMAR CISD, 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-income56%Higher-income82%26 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income57%13 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income52%Higher-income62%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income67%37 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income28%Higher-income43%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income62%27 pp gap