The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in Math. The lowest is 45% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Ellison El
Ellison Elementary sits on the northwest side of San Antonio, in a zip code where home values run well above both the Texas statewide midpoint and the national midpoint, and where rents have edged slightly downward over the past year. The surrounding area reflects the newer suburban edge of San Antonio rather than the historic inner city, part of a metro that has been among the fastest-growing in the country, publicly reported as adding more new residents than any other U.S. metropolitan area in 2024. Families considering this school are generally looking at a housing market at the upper end of the affordability range for the region.
The school is part of Northside ISD and serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the middle and high school years are handled elsewhere in the district. The data we searched for recent parent-relevant changes at Northside ISD came back without confirmed findings before the search was complete, so we are leaving that out rather than guessing.
Enrollment is solid for an elementary school of this grade band. Hispanic students make up the large majority of the student body, with white students the next largest group, followed by Black students and students identifying as two or more races. A meaningful minority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, though the rate sits well below the majority threshold. English learner counts and special education rates were not reported in the data available, so a parent who wants to understand those support structures should ask the school directly.
On the STAAR, Texas's state assessment, Ellison's results depend on which grade and which version of the test you look at. At the aggregate level, across all tested subjects and grades, the school's proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Bexar County, which is a real distinction. The share of students reaching the "approaches grade level" threshold school-wide is strong in both reading and math. A larger fraction of students reach the "meets" standard, and a smaller but meaningful portion reach the "masters" level, which Texas treats as its highest bar.
The picture sharpens when you look by grade. Third-grade math on the English-language STAAR is the strongest single result, with clear majority proficiency. Fifth-grade reading, also in English, is close behind. Fourth and third grade in reading and math on the Spanish-language STAAR, which serves students assessed in Spanish, show lower proficiency rates, in some cases well below majority. The fifth-grade science result in Spanish was not reported because only a very small number of students took that version, which reflects the composition of who is assessed in each language rather than a programmatic gap. A parent whose child will be assessed in Spanish should have a direct conversation with the school about how those students are supported across the grades.
Social studies proficiency, assessed at fifth grade, sits at a noticeably lower rate than reading or math, and that is worth asking about. No multi-year trend data is available beyond the most recent year, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving, holding steady, or declining.
No program offerings were reported in the data, so we cannot speak to specials, enrichment, or extracurriculars. The school's website would be the right place to look.
San Antonio as a city offers considerable civic infrastructure that older students eventually access, including a transit network, major medical and military employers, and a growing technology sector, but for an elementary family the immediate question is what happens in the building and in the neighborhood. The northwest side where Ellison sits is suburban in character, car-oriented in the way most of San Antonio outside the River Walk corridor is, and part of a district large enough to offer resources that smaller districts cannot. The top-quartile standing in Bexar County reflects real academic strength at the school level, even as individual grade results remind a parent that the picture is not uniform across every cohort.
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