The top reported proficiency rate is 32% in English language arts. The lowest is 26% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Justiss El
Justiss Elementary serves kindergarten through fourth grade in Paris, a county-seat city in northeast Texas anchored by a historic downtown plaza and a regional medical center. The school enrolls a modest-sized cohort drawn from families with substantial economic need: most students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment is racially mixed, with substantial shares of Black, Hispanic, and white students.
On state testing, Justiss shows uneven performance. In fourth-grade English language arts, about half of students tested at proficiency or above, which is a genuine strength and places the school's reading instruction in a solid position for that grade. In fourth-grade math, about a quarter of students reached proficiency, a meaningful gap. Third-grade results are more limited: only a small number of third graders took the Spanish-language STAAR math test, yielding too few data points to judge, while in Spanish-language reading, a very small cohort showed low proficiency. Across all tested subjects and grade levels combined, the school's overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile when compared to other districts in Lamar County.
The data reveal a school working with students who face substantial economic barriers. The student body is economically disadvantaged and diverse, which shapes both the instructional challenge and the support needs. Fourth-grade ELA proficiency suggests the school has built some strength there, but math proficiency is a soft spot across grades, and the Spanish-language results reflect what appears to be a small bilingual cohort. A parent may want to look into the school's math interventions and support structures directly with the school, and also ask how the Spanish-language program is resourced and how students transition between languages.
The school sits on 18th Street Northwest in Paris proper, not on the separated-campus pattern that characterizes some of the district's larger facilities. Paris itself is a stable, manufacturing-anchored city with a revitalized downtown, a robust parks system, and moderate housing costs relative to the state average. Manufacturing expansion and new facility openings in the district signal modest local economic activity, though the school's population remains economically stretched.
Kindergarten through fourth grade means Justiss is an elementary anchor; there is no graduation data, and state testing covers only grades three and four. The school's role is foundational literacy and numeracy, and the fourth-grade ELA result suggests some progress is happening, even as math gains remain uneven. For families in the Paris area seeking a neighborhood elementary school, this is a publicly funded, regular school setting serving a population with significant needs and visible diversity. The question for a prospective family is whether the school's current instructional capacity in math and early language learning aligns with their child's needs, and whether the school's support systems address economic barriers in the community. Asking the school directly about tutoring, intervention schedules, and how they support both English and Spanish learners would be a sensible next step.
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