Menard Elementary/jh, Menard TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Menard Elementary/jh

Menard Elementary/JH serves a small school community covering pre-K through eighth grade in a rural Hill Country county seat. Enrollment is small, spanning roughly a hundred and ninety students across ten grade levels. The student body is roughly evenly split between Hispanic and white students, with a substantial majority—about three in four—qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic conditions of Menard County and the working families the school serves.

The academic picture shows uneven performance across subjects. Reading and language arts is a relative strength here. Third grade achieves a notably strong proficiency rate, and sixth grade scores exceptionally high. Performance dips through grades four and five but recovers in seventh and eighth, where proficiency is solid. Overall across ELA, a substantial majority of tested students meet the state's proficiency bar.

Mathematics presents a different challenge. Third grade and eighth grade show moderate proficiency, but fourth grade is notably weak, and fifth, sixth, and seventh grades all hover below the midpoint. The school faces particular difficulty in the middle-grade mathematics years, where fewer than half of tested students reach proficiency. Science and social studies proficiency is low; only about one in five fifth graders meet science standards, and one in three eighth graders do so. Eighth-grade social studies is stronger, with three in five students proficient.

When looked at across all subjects and grade bands together, about three in four students reach the "approaches" level (the lowest proficiency tier), but only about one in five "master" the content, which reflects a school where many students are on the lower end of adequate performance.

The school is located on Gay Street in downtown Menard itself, within the walkable town grid rather than on a remote campus, making it accessible and embedded in the community. Menard is a quiet, aging rural county seat anchored by a historic courthouse square and river parks. The housing market is modest; home values are below the state median and the affordability ratio is favorable relative to national benchmarks. Population in both the town and county has declined over decades, and the housing stock reflects an older, stable community rather than new growth.

A parent considering this school should understand that it is small, serves a predominantly working and low-income population, and offers a traditional combined elementary-junior-high structure. Reading instruction appears more robust than math. The mathematics curriculum, particularly in the middle grades, would be worth discussing directly with the school to understand what support or intervention pathways exist for students struggling with proficiency. State testing data was available, but no specific information on staff size, program breadth, counseling resources, or special-education supports was provided, so a parent may want to look into those details with the school directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 411%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 30 pts below state median

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 8 pts below state median

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 36%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 33%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 8 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 24 pts above state median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 692%

School 92% · District 92%

▲ 40 pts above state median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 15 pts above state median

Science

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 12 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 36 pts above state median

This schoolMENARD 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-income57%Higher-income77%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income38%Higher-income86%48 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income83%Higher-income100%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income50%Higher-income56%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income43%Higher-income62%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income13%Higher-income57%44 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income40%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income40%11 pp gap