Northside School, Vernon TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Northside School

Northside School serves all grades from kindergarten through twelfth as a regular public school in Vernon, a small county seat in north-central Texas. The school sits on the edge of town along Highway 283, part of Northside ISD, a rural district that has held its tax rates flat for the 2025-26 fiscal year despite facing enrollment declines and state funding reductions tied to expanded homestead exemptions.

The school enrolls a student body of modest size, roughly balanced across grades. White students make up the largest demographic share, with a substantial Hispanic enrollment and small numbers of students of other backgrounds. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating moderate economic need across the population.

On state testing, Northside School shows uneven performance across subjects. In English language arts, results are notably stronger: third-grade proficiency stands well above half, and proficiency holds at solid levels through the elementary grades and into middle school, peaking in grade three. Math proficiency is more challenged. In grades three through six, proficiency clusters around the midpoint or slightly below; by grade seven it drops considerably; grade eight recovers to the mid-range. Science testing is limited to grades five and eight, and here the school faces particular difficulty: only a small share of fifth graders meet proficiency, while eighth-grade science proficiency sits roughly at the midpoint. Eighth-grade social studies is weak, with proficiency well below half. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it at the top of the three-district comparison set for Wilbarger County, though that positioning reflects the county's general performance level rather than strong absolute attainment.

The school's asset is reading. The relative strength in ELA across grade bands suggests the school has stronger footing in literacy instruction. The soft spot is math at the middle grades, particularly grade seven, where performance dips sharply. Science, especially in the elementary years, also reads as an area where the school would benefit from closer examination of curriculum, teaching resources, or student support.

Vernon itself is a declining small town of roughly mid-sized population, the county seat with historic downtown anchors but little new housing construction and employment concentrated in manufacturing, health care, and education. Housing values are modest and well below state and national averages. The town has a car-oriented built environment with walkable downtown activity centered on historic Main Street and the courthouse. Civic anchors include a Carnegie library, the Red River Valley Museum on the nearby Vernon College campus, and community events in the downtown district. No fixed public transit exists; mobility for those without cars relies on a county-run senior transportation program. The local economy has shown some energy in industrial development around data centers and renewable energy, and the city has pursued Main Street revitalization, but population and residential growth remain flat.

For a family considering Northside School, the read is a small K-12 school serving a stable rural community where reading instruction appears solid but where math and science warrant scrutiny. The school's position against county peers is respectable, though the county itself does not perform at high levels. Vernon offers an older, smaller-town setting with modest housing costs and a concentration of civic life downtown, with the schools themselves located on the town's edge rather than embedded in the center. The district's flat tax rate and enrollment pressures signal tightening finances ahead.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=50%Cohort of 13 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,779 schools plotted. 59 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 714%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 2 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 384%

School 84% · District 84%

▲ 38 pts above state median

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 62%

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 661%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 10 pts above state median

Science

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 3 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 4 pts below state median

This schoolNORTHSIDE 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.