Academic Performance
Percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards, by grade.
Mathematics1 grade reported
Grade 4
57%
English Language Arts2 grades reported
Grade 3
55%
Grade 4
54%
Science1 grade reported
Grade 5
28%
Located in ROYSE CITY, TX. Serving grades PK through 05.
W R (Bill) Fort Elementary sits on FM 35 in Royse City, a fast-growing suburb roughly 35 miles east of downtown Dallas along the I-30 corridor. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade within Royse City ISD, a district that has been expanding at a pace few suburban Texas districts match. Understanding Fort Elementary means understanding that growth context, because it shapes almost everything from school assignments to the community families are joining.
Royse City itself is a place in transition. The original townsite near the railroad tracks retains a small-town feel, with a walkable Main Street district, a public library, community events like Music on Main, and a farmers market. Most new residential growth, though, arrives in the form of master-planned subdivisions near I-30, and the surrounding housing market reflects that demand. Home values here sit above the Texas state benchmark, though prices have edged down modestly in the past year. Rents run noticeably higher than an estimated mortgage payment would cost, which is worth knowing for families weighing renting versus buying. The area is car-dependent; most residents commute into the broader DFW metro for work, and daily errands require driving.
Fort Elementary enrolls a substantial number of students for its grade band. The student body is racially and ethnically mixed, with white students making up the plurality, Hispanic students the next largest group, and Black students representing a meaningful share as well. Roughly a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this school in a middle range on that economic indicator. Data on English learner enrollment and students served by IEPs were not available in the data provided.
On the Texas STAAR assessment, the picture is mixed. The school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint relative to districts in Rockwall County, which is the comparison set available for this school. In reading and language arts, somewhere around half of third- and fourth-grade students tested at or above grade-level expectations, which Texas labels "meets" or above. Math results at the tested grades were similar, with fourth-grade performance landing in that same general range. The encouraging part: the broader "approaches grade level" threshold, which captures students who show at least foundational progress, was reached by a large majority of students in both reading and math. Where the picture is weaker is at the upper end of achievement. The share of students reaching the "masters" level, Texas's highest performance tier, was quite modest across all subjects, well below the majority. Science results at fifth grade were the sharpest gap in the data, with fewer than a third of students scoring proficient, a result a parent may want to ask the school about directly. Third- and fifth-grade STAAR results for math and reading are listed as unavailable because only a handful of students took the Spanish-language version at those grades, too few for the state to report a rate. No trend data beyond the current year was available, so it is not possible to say whether results are improving or flat.
No program offerings data was provided for Fort Elementary specifically, though publicly reported information about the district indicates that Royse City ISD offers CTE pathways, dual credit, associate degree tracks, agriculture, fine arts, and athletics at the high school level. What exists at the elementary level was not in the data.
The district context is important for any family settling in Royse City now. Voters approved a substantial bond program in 2023 covering a second high school, a third middle school, and additional elementary campuses. That second high school is publicly reported to open in 2027, starting with the two lower high school grades and growing to a full campus by 2030. State property tax legislation passed after the bond election reduced the district's taxable value, which has delayed some of those projects. Families should expect school attendance boundaries to shift as new campuses open. The district also reduced its maintenance and operations tax rate meaningfully in 2023, a relevant fact for homeowners.
For a family drawn to a growing DFW suburb with a racially mixed community and a school whose proficiency sits above the county midpoint but where upper-tier achievement and science scores suggest room to grow, Fort Elementary fits that profile. The rapid growth of both the school district and the surrounding community will continue to define the experience here for the foreseeable future.
Percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards, by grade.
Officially reported figures, 2024-25.
All reported measures, by topic.