Water Valley School, Water Valley TX

Original Research by School Decision on Water Valley School

Water Valley School is a small combined public school serving prekindergarten through grade twelve on a single rural campus in an unincorporated community in northwestern Tom Green County. The school enrolls a small student body of roughly three hundred, with a majority of students identifying as white and a substantial share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. About a quarter of the enrollment is Hispanic.

The school sits at the civic center of an agricultural community of fewer than one thousand people, roughly twenty miles northwest of San Angelo. Water Valley itself has no downtown; it is a dispersed settlement anchored by the school, churches, a cemetery, and a post office along U.S. Highway 87. The regional job market is in San Angelo, where major employers include Goodfellow Air Force Base, healthcare, and area universities, alongside farming and ranching that characterizes the surrounding countryside. The community is car-dependent and rural. Population and school enrollment have remained stable at modest levels over decades, with no signs of active growth or new housing development.

Most recent state testing data in math and English language arts shows weak to moderate results overall, with significant variation by grade and subject. In the elementary grades tested (three through five), English proficiency rates are especially low in grades three and four but climb sharply in grade five. Math proficiency is more consistent but still modest in grades three and four, then improves noticeably in grades five and six. By middle school, the pattern reverses: grade six math proficiency is strong, while grades seven and eight show a steep decline in both subjects. Grade eight science proficiency sits around the midpoint; grade eight social studies proficiency is quite low. Only one earlier year of testing was available, so trend data cannot be drawn. A parent may want to look into the school's approaches to middle grades instruction and ask directly about the drivers of the performance dip in grades seven and eight.

When the school's overall proficiency results are positioned against other districts in Tom Green County, Water Valley School's performance sits above the midpoint across tested subjects and grades. The school does not report a four-year graduation rate or chronic absenteeism data in available sources.

The district has invested substantially in facilities in the past few years. Completed in October 2023 was a large campus improvement project adding four new buildings—a cafetorium, vocational agriculture building, weight room, and restroom facility—along with tennis courts and site improvements. In summer 2024 the district began construction of a new athletic facility that also serves as a recreation center for the broader community. These capital projects reflect a commitment to infrastructure that benefits enrolled families. Property tax rates adopted by the district have declined over the last three years, a fact that affects the cost of homeownership in the area.

Water Valley School's grade configuration and small scale mean it is the only school option in the district and the main civic institution in its community. For families seeking a rural, school-centered setting with recent facility upgrades and stable enrollment, and who can accommodate the middle-grades performance data as part of a broader school-choice conversation, this school offers that context. For families seeking higher overall proficiency or more institutional diversity at the secondary level, options would require moving to a larger district nearby.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=50%Cohort of 13 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,779 schools plotted. 59 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 43% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

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

Grade 688%

School 88% · District 88%

▲ 54 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 38%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 25%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 428%

School 28% · District 27% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 578%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 669%

School 69% · District 69%

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

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Science

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 28%

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

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 17%

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

This schoolWATER VALLEY 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-income18%Higher-income40%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income10%Higher-income37%27 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income83%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income50%Higher-income44%6 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income55%Higher-income58%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income27%Higher-income60%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income10%Higher-income63%53 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income50%0 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income38%Higher-income38%0 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income25%Higher-income25%0 pp gap