The top reported proficiency rate is 23% in English language arts. The lowest is 13% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on L E Monahan El
L E Monahan Elementary sits on Deep Valley Drive in northeast Houston, serving students in first through fifth grade as part of Sheldon ISD. The school draws from a community that is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with nearly the entirety of the student body qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. That economic context shapes nearly everything about what the school is working with and working against.
Texas STAAR results from the most recent school year show proficiency levels that are low and will likely concern parents reviewing them carefully. Across math, grades three through five told different stories: fourth graders approached a third of students scoring at or above grade level, while third graders came in well below that, and a very small fifth-grade cohort tested in Spanish showed no students reaching proficiency. In reading and language arts, fifth graders performed the best of the tested grades, with roughly two in five reaching grade-level expectations, while the third-grade Spanish cohort again showed no students at proficiency. Fifth-grade science results were particularly thin, with only a small fraction of students meeting the bar. When placed against the broader universe of districts in Harris County, Monahan's proficiency index falls in the bottom quartile of that comparison set. Trend data would normally help contextualize whether the school is improving, but only a single year of data is available here, so no trajectory can be drawn. A parent who wants to understand whether performance is moving will want to ask the school directly or check with Sheldon ISD.
What the STAAR scores do not capture is that a substantial share of students appear to be tested on Spanish-language versions of the assessment, which reflects a bilingual or dual-language instructional model at some grade levels. This matters for interpretation: students learning in a language other than English are on a different developmental arc than native English speakers, and early proficiency scores on English-based measures can understate what those children are actually learning. The data provided does not include English learner counts or IEP rates, so the full scope of language support or special education services at the school is not visible here.
Graduation rate and dual-credit or AP pathway data are not applicable to Monahan, which stops at fifth grade. Those questions will become relevant when students move into Sheldon ISD's middle and high school campuses.
On the district side, Sheldon ISD is in the middle of a substantial growth and construction cycle. Voters approved a large bond in late 2022, publicly reported to fund a new ninth and tenth grade campus, expansions to middle and early childhood facilities, safety upgrades, GPS-tracked buses, and classroom technology. The ninth and tenth grade campus is publicly reported to open for the 2026-27 school year. The district has been adding hundreds of students annually and, after an earlier bond attempt failed, had to redraw attendance boundaries and create interim campus arrangements as stopgap measures. Families moving into the area should factor in that boundaries and campus assignments have shifted in recent years and may continue to evolve as the build-out progresses. The approved bond also carried a modest property tax rate increase for homeowners, which is a real consideration for those buying in the district.
The housing market surrounding the school reflects that northeast Houston remains more accessible than much of Harris County. Home values in the relevant zip code sit below the state median and well below the national median, and rents are relatively modest by Houston metro standards. Prices have edged slightly downward year over year, and the broader Harris County market has seen listings sit somewhat longer before going under contract. For families priced out of Inner Loop or western Houston neighborhoods, this part of the metro offers entry without giving up proximity to the major employment corridors along Beltway 8 and the Ship Channel industries.
Houston itself, it is worth noting, is still one of the fastest-growing metros in the country. The city's lack of conventional zoning means the neighborhood around Monahan can change in character as development pressure moves outward from the urban core. That is not inherently good or bad for families, but it is a real feature of where the school sits.
For parents primarily focused on tested academic outcomes, Monahan's current STAAR numbers are a genuine concern and warrant direct conversations with the school about what support structures exist for students who are not yet at grade level.
See more original research from School Decision →