Mendez El, San Marcos TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Mendez El

Mendez Elementary is a pre-kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school serving about five hundred forty students in San Marcos, a fast-growing college town between Austin and San Antonio anchored by Texas State University. The school draws from a community with substantial economic need: roughly nine in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and about six in seven students are Hispanic. The neighborhood reflects San Marcos's rapid expansion, with new multifamily and planned communities under development nearby alongside historic districts and downtown.

The school's academic results show modest performance across tested grades. In math, third graders are approaching meeting the state's proficiency mark, while fourth and fifth grade results are weaker, particularly in a Spanish-language cohort where the numbers tested are quite small. Reading results are lower still, with third graders showing the steepest gap. All-subjects data indicates that a large share of students are approaching grade-level standards but a smaller share meet or exceed them. Science proficiency in fifth grade, where tested, showed no students meeting the standard, though the tested group was tiny. This pattern suggests the school is working with students who are still building foundational skills and may benefit from targeted support, particularly in early literacy and math. A parent may want to ask the school directly about intervention programs, small-group instruction, and how the school is addressing the performance gaps that appear as students move from third to fourth and fifth grade.

The broader San Marcos district context matters for understanding what Mendez faces. The district has experienced rapid enrollment driven by municipal growth but is now managing budget pressure from flat per-student state funding and enrollment decline. In its 2025-26 budget, the district reduced instructional coaches, cut elementary nurse assistant positions, and let go many early-career and uncertified teachers. A new Mendez Elementary building was under construction following a 2023 bond, and the district also approved additional property tax increases in 2024. These changes reflect resource strain that likely affects staffing depth and program breadth across the school.

Mendez is a regular public school in a growing, economically diverse town. It serves a student body with high poverty and a strong Hispanic enrollment. The academic trajectory shows students building toward proficiency in some areas while struggling in others, a pattern typical of schools serving concentrated disadvantage. For families considering the school, the key question is what targeted academic supports and interventional instruction are in place, and whether the recent staff reductions have affected those programs.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 43% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 10% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 43% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 44% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 28% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 50% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 23% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

This schoolSAN MARCOS CISD, 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-income27%Higher-income64%37 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income41%Higher-income50%9 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income55%Higher-income56%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income88%48 pp gap