Charles Borchers El, Laredo TX - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Charles Borchers El

Charles Borchers Elementary serves pre-K through fifth grade in Laredo, a predominantly Hispanic border city anchored in logistics and trade. The school is part of United ISD, which recently lowered its property tax rate, launched an early childhood program for children as young as three, and introduced a district-wide reading initiative focused on grade-level proficiency.

Borchers sits in a growing part of the city where new residential subdivisions are expanding outward from downtown. The neighborhood's economic context reflects Laredo's broader character: a community where a moderate share of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and housing values remain affordable by state and national standards, making it accessible to working and middle-income households.

The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with a small number of students from other backgrounds. About half of all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school enrolls a small pre-K cohort and then grows through the elementary grades, with the largest cohort in fifth grade.

On the most recent state assessments, Borchers showed mixed results. In English language arts across grades three through five, the school reached proficiency rates around seventy to seventy-seven percent—approaching or meeting a sustainable level. In math, proficiency hovered around seventy percent in third and fifth grades, though a very small cohort in fourth grade was tested in Spanish and does not produce a reliable comparison. English language learner enrollment data was not available in the district records provided. Science proficiency, assessed only in fifth grade, came in substantially lower at around thirty-six percent, a meaningful gap that warrants attention. Across all tested subjects, about eighty-six percent of students reached the "approaches" level (the lowest proficiency tier), meaning a small share fell below grade-level expectations.

When compared against other districts in Webb County, Borchers ranks in the top quartile for overall proficiency index—a composite measure across tested subjects and grades—substantially above the median performance in the county. This positioning reflects strength in reading and math relative to peers, though the science result pulls the overall picture down.

One limitation: participation rates on state assessments were not available, so it is unclear whether results reflect all students who took the test or a subset. This is worth verifying directly with the school if assessment representativeness is important to your evaluation.

The school benefits from district-level momentum around reading instruction, which aligns with its measured strength in language arts. The early childhood program now running across United ISD may also affect Borchers' pre-K and kindergarten pipeline in the years ahead. The science performance gap, combined with relatively modest "meets" and "masters" rates (students exceeding grade-level standards), is a soft spot a parent may want to look into further with the school, particularly if your child has strong science interests or if you value consistent depth across all subjects.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 23% · ▲ 47 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 23% · ▲ 47 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 377%

School 77% · District 17% · ▲ 60 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 39% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 5% · ▲ 31 pts above district

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

This schoolUNITED 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-income73%Higher-income82%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income49%Higher-income76%27 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income55%Higher-income85%30 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income73%Higher-income67%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income39%Higher-income67%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income61%Higher-income79%18 pp gap