River Oaks El, Austin TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on River Oaks El

River Oaks Elementary sits in the northeast part of Austin, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within the Pflugerville Independent School District. The school draws an enrollment of roughly four hundred students, with the majority from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. More than four-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller populations of Black, white, and Asian students.

The state testing data available for grades three through five shows moderate academic performance. In mathematics, proficiency rates range across the grade levels, with fourth grade showing the strongest result while fifth grade is notably lower. English language arts performance sits between roughly mid-range and just above half proficient in grades three and five, while fourth grade Spanish-language testing showed a somewhat higher proficiency rate. A fifth-grade science class tested in Spanish showed no students meeting proficiency, a substantial gap that a parent may want to look into further with the school directly to understand whether this reflects the test population, the curriculum, or other factors.

Looking at performance more broadly across all subjects tested, fewer than three in five students reach the "approaches" level, which is the baseline proficiency tier in Texas. Only one in five students achieve mastery level performance across all subjects. This pattern suggests that most students are working below grade-level expectations on state measures, and the school operates below the proficiency midpoint when compared against other districts in Travis County. A parent considering this school should expect that academic support and intervention may be features of daily instruction.

Austin itself is a rapidly growing metro that has become a major technology hub, with major employers in semiconductors, tech, and state government. The city is anchored by a walkable downtown centered around the state capitol and the University of Texas, though most residential areas are car-dependent suburban neighborhoods. Housing values in the area have remained relatively high despite a recent modest dip, and rents have similarly declined slightly but remain elevated. The school sits in a suburban part of Austin served by the broader capital region's public transit and parks, including the hike-and-bike trails around Lady Bird Lake.

The district itself is in transition. Pflugerville ISD recently approved the closure of four elementary schools beginning in the 2027-28 school year due to declining enrollment and budget pressures, which will reshape school assignments in the area. However, the district has maintained a stable and competitive property tax rate in recent years and approved a bond measure in 2022 that funded renovation and technology investments. The district also recently introduced a new middle school career pathway curriculum exploring fields like artificial intelligence and clean energy, signaling an effort to align middle school experience with local employment sectors.

River Oaks serves a high-poverty student population in a rapidly changing district. Its academic results on state measures show room for growth, particularly in upper elementary grades and in science. Whether this school is the right fit depends largely on what kind of instructional intensity and family resources a parent can bring to supplement classroom learning, and whether the school's particular approach to serving a predominantly low-income, Hispanic student population aligns with family values and learning preferences.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 10% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 12% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 9% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 348%

School 48% · District 18% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 57% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 33% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 25% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

This schoolPFLUGERVILLE 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-income42%Higher-income14%28 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income62%Higher-income80%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income7%Higher-income0%7 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income51%Higher-income44%7 pp gap