Richardson Heights El, Richardson TX

Original Research by School Decision on Richardson Heights El

Richardson Heights Elementary serves prekindergarten through sixth grade in Richardson, a city that anchors the Telecom Corridor and sits within Dallas County. The school enrolls a student population that is roughly evenly split between Hispanic and white students, with smaller shares of Black, Asian, and other groups. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need. The school sits within a district undergoing significant structural change: Richardson ISD is converting from a junior-high to a middle-school model, and Richardson Heights is among the elementary campuses that will transition its sixth graders to a new middle school configuration by 2028. Voters also approved a substantial bond package in 2025 that includes a new Career and Technical Education Center, technology device replacement, and facility upgrades across the district.

Academic performance at Richardson Heights shows a split picture. In English language arts, the school demonstrates moderate-to-stronger results in the early tested grades, with third graders reaching proficiency at about two-thirds, though fourth and sixth graders cluster around the midline. Math performance is noticeably weaker, with fourth and sixth graders around the midpoint and fifth graders performing very low on assessments in Spanish. Science results are particularly low in fifth grade. A parent may want to ask the school directly about the teaching conditions in Spanish-language cohorts, where sample sizes are small and proficiency dropped to zero in several instances, and about what targeted supports exist for math and science, areas where the school's results sit below where one might expect for a suburban district.

Across all tested subjects, about three-quarters of students reach a level that approaches proficiency, meaning they demonstrate some command of material. About half reach the "meets" level, and roughly a quarter achieve the highest "masters" level. These proportions place the school slightly above the midpoint on overall proficiency when compared to other schools in Dallas County, though the range of performance across subjects is notable.

Richardson is characterized by substantial employment in technology, telecommunications, finance, and healthcare, with major companies like AT&T, State Farm, and others anchoring the economy. The CORE district downtown is undergoing infrastructure improvements and adaptive reuse projects. The University of Texas at Dallas operates as a large research campus within the city. Housing values are above state benchmarks. The area is served by DART transit, with a planned Cotton Belt line addition at UT Dallas expected to enhance regional connectivity.

The school's enrollment is relatively stable at under five hundred students. One data limitation is that information on the school's specific instructional programs, staff composition, or attendance metrics was not available. State testing data in social studies shows markedly low proficiency across the school, which merits direct conversation with the school about curriculum and preparation in that subject.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 15% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 11% · ▲ 47 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 51% · ▼ 51 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 47% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 20% · ▲ 46 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 21% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 56% · ▼ 4 pts below district

even with state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Science

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 1% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

This schoolRICHARDSON 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-income46%Higher-income81%35 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income38%Higher-income63%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income54%19 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income57%13 pp gap