Irving Dual Language Academy, San Antonio TX

Original Research by School Decision on Irving Dual Language Academy

Irving Dual Language Academy is a public charter school serving prekindergarten through eighth grade in San Antonio, operating with an enrollment of about five hundred and fifty students. The school sits in the south-central part of the city, within San Antonio Independent School District, and draws a student body that is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school's defining feature is its dual-language model. Students take instruction in both Spanish and English across the curriculum, and most assessments are administered in Spanish in the elementary grades, shifting to English in middle school. This is the school's core educational pathway, not an elective option, so families choosing Irving are committing to bilingual education as the frame for their child's learning.

On state testing, Irving shows mixed results that reflect the complexity of this instructional model. In third and fourth grade Spanish-language assessments, proficiency runs roughly in the low to mid range. English language arts proficiency in fourth grade is notably stronger, with most students meeting the standard. By fifth and sixth grades, math proficiency drops noticeably, and English language arts dips below half. Eighth grade shows improvement in both subjects, particularly in English language arts, where roughly two-thirds of students meet the standard. Science proficiency is a soft spot, particularly in fifth grade, where only a small portion of students meet the standard; eighth-grade science performs better but remains below half. Social studies results at eighth grade are quite low. Overall, across all subjects and grades, the school reaches above the midpoint for proficiency compared to other tested schools in Bexar County, though the variation across subjects and grades is substantial.

The instructional shift from Spanish to English testing as students progress suggests a transition strategy, but parents may want to ask the school directly how it supports students during this shift and whether home Spanish literacy is maintained once English assessment becomes the standard. The science and social studies results, in particular, warrant a conversation with school leadership about how content area instruction works in a dual-language setting and what support exists for students struggling with these assessments.

Irving is small relative to the district as a whole, with roughly forty to ninety students per grade in the lower grades and roughly thirty to forty by eighth grade. This creates a coherent, tight-knit environment. Families in the immediate neighborhood and those seeking bilingual immersion are the natural audience. San Antonio, as a city, has been experiencing rapid growth and a major demographic shift, with the metro ranking among the fastest-growing in the nation; housing costs in the 78207 zip code remain accessible relative to state and national benchmarks, and rental rates have been rising modestly. The broader district recently completed a major rightsizing effort, closing a significant number of schools in response to enrollment decline, and has undertaken curriculum standardization in math and reading to address earlier test performance challenges. These district-level shifts mean the landscape of neighborhood school options has changed and may affect enrollment patterns going forward.

A parent considering Irving should understand that the school's strength is its bilingual pathway and its smaller scale. The variable test results across grades and subjects suggest that some students thrive in this model and some do not; visiting the school, observing classrooms, and speaking directly with families currently enrolled would help clarify whether the dual-language approach aligns with their child's language background and learning style.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 30% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 29% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 29% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 16% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 21% · ▲ 41 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 35% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 32% · ▲ 43 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 44% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 33% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 759%

School 59% · District 34% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 869%

School 69% · District 34% · ▲ 35 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 5% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 26% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 10% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

This schoolSAN ANTONIO 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 6Lower-income31%Higher-income83%52 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income33%6 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income31%Higher-income100%69 pp gap