The top reported proficiency rate is 78% in English language arts. The lowest is 48% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Sivells Bend El
Sivells Bend Elementary is the sole campus of Sivells Bend ISD, a small rural district in Cooke County, Texas. It serves prekindergarten through eighth grade, which means it is both the elementary and the middle school for every student in the district from the earliest grades through the end of junior high. The enrollment is quite small even by rural Texas standards, with only a handful of students in most grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic population and a few students of two or more races. Roughly two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Because the grade cohorts are so small, reading the STAAR results requires real caution. When only a few students sit for a given test, a single child's performance can swing the reported rate dramatically in either direction, and Texas withholds results entirely when a group is too small for privacy. Several grade-level scores are suppressed for exactly that reason. With that caveat stated clearly, the results that are reported show a wide range. Third-grade math proficiency was very low in the most recent year, while fourth-grade ELA was strong. By the middle grades the picture brightens considerably: sixth-grade scores in both math and ELA were very strong, and the eighth-grade ELA cohort was fully proficient. Eighth-grade science results were also solid. Social studies at eighth grade came in around the midpoint. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, the school's overall proficiency index sits in the top quartile relative to the other districts in Cooke County, a position worth noting given how much the small numbers can fluctuate year to year. Trend data was not available for prior years, so there is no multi-year picture to draw on.
No AP or dual-credit programs are offered, which makes sense given the PK-8 grade band; those pathways belong to the high school years, which this campus does not serve. Families planning ahead should understand that students will need to transition to a different district for ninth grade. Program detail beyond the core curriculum was not available in the data.
On the facility side, voters in 2024 rejected a bond that would have funded a new K-8 school building, a career training facility, and upgrades required for federal accessibility and state student-security compliance. The measure did not pass, and the district's single campus continues without those improvements. Parents may want to ask the district directly about its plans for addressing the deferred accessibility and security requirements. The failed bond also would have introduced a new property-tax component that did not take effect; publicly reported information indicates the district has reduced its overall property-tax rate substantially over recent years, which is relevant context for prospective homeowners.
Housing in the area runs below both the Texas state median and the national median for home values. The local rent-to-income ratio is modest, and the estimated monthly mortgage cost is below the statewide norm, making the area relatively accessible compared to much of Texas. The locale brief for Gainesville returned no usable detail on employers, walkability, or community anchors before the research budget was exhausted, so that context is not available here.
Sivells Bend is a very small, rural, PK-8 public school that functions as the entire academic career for its students before high school. The peer environment is intimate by necessity, individual teacher-student relationships are likely close, and the academic results at tested grades are competitive within Cooke County. The facility questions raised by the failed bond are worth a direct conversation with the district before enrolling.
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