Western Hills El, Temple TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Western Hills El

Western Hills Elementary serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Temple, a fast-growing Central Texas city anchored by health care, logistics, and manufacturing. The school sits in a district that has recently invested heavily in facilities and is now launching new career pathways, which signals forward momentum at the system level.

The student body is economically diverse, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is small to mid-sized for an elementary school, and the racial and ethnic composition reflects the broader Bell County area, with roughly equal shares of white, Hispanic, and Black students, along with representation from Asian, multiracial, and other backgrounds.

In state testing on the STAAR assessment, Western Hills' proficiency results cluster in the low to mid range. In English Language Arts, third-grade proficiency sits in the low-to-mid range, declining noticeably in fourth grade before recovering somewhat in fifth. Math shows a similar pattern, with fifth-grade performance edging higher than the lower grades. Science, tested only in fifth grade, runs below both ELA and math proficiency. Across all subjects, the school's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint among Bell County districts, indicating there is room for instructional improvement. A parent may want to look into how the school is responding to these results and what support structures are in place for students who need to close proficiency gaps.

The district has been proactive about mathematics instruction, overhauling its secondary math curriculum and pedagogy two school years ago. That change may eventually influence what students bring to elementary classrooms, though elementary math performance has not yet shown a rebound. The district also just approved a major bond for new classroom construction to handle enrollment growth and retire portable classrooms, a reality reflecting Temple's rapid expansion westward and suggesting the school may see fresh facilities in coming years.

For families considering this school, it offers a stable elementary setting in a district investing in infrastructure and career pathways at the secondary level. The test results show room for academic growth, and a parent weighing this choice would benefit from conversations with the school about reading and math intervention, small-group support, and how the school tracks progress for students who are not yet meeting standards.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 39% · ▲ 1 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 36% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 17% · ▲ 30 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 0% · ▲ 43 pts above district

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

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 42% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 8% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Science

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 20% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

This schoolTEMPLE 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 3Lower-income31%Higher-income76%45 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income35%5 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income81%51 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income29%Higher-income71%42 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income47%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income64%25 pp gap