The top reported proficiency rate is 57% in Science. The lowest is 36% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Cedric C Smith
Cedric C Smith is an early-elementary school serving pre-K through fourth grade in Magnolia, a fast-growing exurban community northwest of Houston in Montgomery County. The school enrolls a student body that is roughly evenly split between Hispanic and white students, with an additional portion of Black, Asian, and multiracial families. About half the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a standard marker of economic need in the community.
The school is situated in Magnolia ISD, a district expanding rapidly. Montgomery County itself is among the fastest-growing counties in the nation, and the district's enrollment has been climbing faster than planners anticipated. This growth has prompted recent boundary changes and a series of bond elections to build new capacity. In 2022, voters passed a bond that funded a new elementary school (Audubon). In November 2025, voters rejected a three-part bond package that would have added two more elementary schools and a new high school. The district then called a revised bond election for May 2026 focused on a single high school and two elementary schools, trimmed from the earlier package. For families considering a home in the zone, this context matters: capacity is tight, rezoning happens periodically to balance enrollment across schools, and the district is building year-to-year rather than completing all planned growth at once.
On academics, the most recent state testing data available is mixed. Third-grade math shows a proficiency rate above the midpoint, and both third and fourth grades show gains in language arts at the "meets" and "masters" levels overall. However, a small number of students take Spanish-language STAAR assessments at this school, and those results are notably lower, particularly in fourth-grade math where only a tiny cohort tested. The broader picture across all subjects and grades, when measured as an overall proficiency index, places the school above the midpoint among Montgomery County districts, a meaningful strength for a school serving this demographic makeup and economic profile. Kindergarten through second grade are not state-tested in Texas, so the early foundation years lack formal accountability data.
The school draws from a housing market where single-family homes and newer master-planned subdivisions are the dominant form. Home values in the Magnolia area are moderate relative to greater Houston, and rent-to-income ratios suggest that rental housing absorbs roughly a quarter of household income for typical renters in the locale. Multiple large communities are under development or launching, including projects with hundreds or thousands of planned homesites. Housing affordability relative to income is comparable to national benchmarks, making Magnolia an accessible option for families seeking suburban growth-corridor proximity to Houston without the premium costs of closer-in suburbs.
The broader community has retained a small-town character in its historic downtown along Magnolia Boulevard and FM Road, where local shops and civic anchors like Unity Park anchor civic life, though most of the district's territory spreads across newer suburban corridors served primarily by car. This is a district in expansion mode, with young families moving in, new schools opening, and boundaries shifting. Cedric C Smith sits within that landscape as a long-established elementary school now navigating growth-driven changes to its enrollment zone and the district's ongoing build-out of capacity.
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