The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in English language arts. The lowest is 55% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Smith El
Smith Elementary sits on North 1st Street in Raymondville, a small county-seat city in the northern Rio Grande Valley that describes itself as the Gateway to the Rio Grande Valley. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within Raymondville ISD, and its enrollment is substantial for an elementary in its grade band. The student body is almost entirely Hispanic, and nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, making this one of the more economically concentrated schools in Texas by that measure. Data on English learner identification and special education enrollment was not available in what was provided.
On the STAAR assessments, which Texas uses to measure grade-level performance, Smith El's results are genuinely encouraging, particularly given the economic context. In reading and language arts, students in the tested upper-elementary grades cleared the "meets grade level" bar at rates that hold up well, and fifth graders hit their highest marks across both ELA and math. Math proficiency in the fourth and fifth grades sits clearly above the halfway point among all students tested, a meaningful result for a high-poverty campus. Third grade math was the softer spot, trailing the upper grades by a visible margin, and a parent who wants to understand how third graders are supported through that transition would be well-served asking the school directly. The grade-three ELA result was not reportable because almost no students took that version of the test, which reflects the school's use of a Spanish-language assessment pathway for youngest readers rather than any data gap to worry about. Science results for fifth grade came in just above the midpoint.
Across all tested subjects and performance levels combined, the school lands in the top quartile relative to the other districts in Willacy County, which is the available comparison set. That position is worth taking seriously: this is a school drawing from one of the most economically challenged communities in Texas and still placing its overall proficiency index above the rest of the county's schools.
The broader district adds context a family with older children will care about. Raymondville ISD publicly launched a two-year college scholarship program tied to its Early College High School, becoming the first district in the Rio Grande Valley to do so, according to publicly reported coverage. Graduating seniors can attend Texas Southmost College with tuition, books, fees, meals, transportation, and a laptop covered, with a pathway to an associate degree or industry certification. In a community where the vast majority of students come from low-income families, that is a concrete college-access commitment that threads back to what the elementary years are building toward.
Raymondville itself is a car-dependent small city where single-family homes and mobile homes make up most of the housing stock. Home values here are well below both the Texas and national medians and have seen modest recent appreciation, making the area among the more affordable entry points in the state. The local economy leans on public-sector employers, the school district among them, alongside agricultural trade and some commercial activity along the I-69 corridor. Growth is slow and measured, with leaders actively working to recruit new businesses.
Chronic absenteeism data was not available for Smith El, which is a gap worth noting. Attendance patterns matter at the elementary level, especially in pre-K and early grades, and a parent would be reasonable to ask what the school sees and how it responds.
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