The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in English language arts. The lowest is 26% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Earnest O Woods Int
Earnest O Woods Intermediate sits at 307 Wingo Way in Wills Point, a small East Texas town in Van Zandt County about an hour east of Dallas. The school serves grades two through four and is part of Wills Point ISD, a district that recently gained voter approval for a substantial facilities bond in November 2025 aimed at renovations and expansions across every campus, including new classrooms, maintenance upgrades, enhanced security systems, and expanded space for career and technical education programs. The bond carries a property tax increase of roughly thirty cents per dollar of assessed value, though the rate remains lower than it was a decade ago, with homeowners aged sixty-five and older holding a senior homestead exemption seeing no increase.
The school's enrollment is moderate for its grade band, with a student body that is majority white and Hispanic in roughly equal representation, and a substantial share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Grade two has more students than grades three and four, which may reflect the town's modest recent population growth.
On state assessments given in spring 2025, the school's results show proficiency well below the midpoint when compared to other districts in Van Zandt County. In English language arts, fourth grade performed measurably better than third grade, with a meaningful share of fourth graders meeting the state's proficiency standard, while third-grade results were notably lower. Mathematics proficiency was weaker across both grades, with only a modest share of students meeting standards in third grade and a somewhat larger but still small share in fourth. When looking at all four performance levels together across tested subjects, about two-thirds of students were assessed at the "approaches" level (the lower two tiers), about a third met standards, and only a small share showed mastery-level performance.
The school's setting is rural and small-town. Wills Point itself has a preserved historic downtown with brick-lined streets and a compact commercial core, though the school campus sits separate from that district, oriented toward the broader county. Agriculture shapes the area's character; cattle, cotton, and orchards sit minutes from the town center. Housing in the area is modestly priced relative to state and national benchmarks and remains affordable by many measures, with a median home age suggesting an established, older housing stock. The town is growing slowly, with recent population gains attributed in part to remote-work migration and demand for rural real estate at lower price points.
A parent may want to look into the school's specific curriculum and instructional approaches, given that proficiency results are substantially below the county median. The recent bond approval signals district commitment to facility improvements and expanded programming, which may support academic work going forward, but the data provided does not include information on staffing, intervention programs, or other student support mechanisms that would help explain the current performance levels or the school's plan to improve them.
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