Preparatory for Early College H S

RIO GRANDE CITY · TX · RIO GRANDE CITY GRULLA ISD · Public


📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 4 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 1 calculus classes · 6 physics · 6 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 68th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 26% by test-taker volume

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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💡

How Preparatory for Early College H S compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor at the 68th percentile nationally with 4 AP courses.
  • LocallyTX students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: IDEA RIO GRANDE CITY COLLEGE PREPARATORY, GRULLA H S, THELMA ROSA SALINAS STEM EARLY COLLEGE H S and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

68th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
4
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
320
≈74 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
13
1 calculus · 12 advanced
Lab science classes
12
6 physics · 6 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program
✅ Gifted/talented program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 26% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
22
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
5.1
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
11.1%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
0.0%
Strong attendance culture among teachers.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

High-poverty school

Title I Schoolwide eligible

98.6%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

≥75% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. These schools qualify for the highest tier of federal Title I funding and typically receive extra wraparound services. Academic outcomes vary widely — check the state assessment + grad-rate tiles.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

🏛️ Your state's public flagship

The University of Texas at Austin

29%
admit rate
$11,688
in-state tuition/yr · $44,908 out-of-state
1230–1490
SAT 25–75 · ACT 27–33

The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $19,857/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full The University of Texas at Austin profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

💰 Pay for college in Texas

Texas's public scholarships

Texas families have two big levers: a guaranteed-admission rule for the top of each graduating class, and the need-based TEXAS Grant that pairs with it. Class rank does more here than almost anywhere.

Auto-admit Top 10% Automatic Admission
Guaranteed admission to a Texas public university (not a $ award)
GPA: Top 10% class rank (UT Austin caps at top 5%)

Graduate in the top 10% of your Texas public-HS class and finish the required curriculum for automatic admission to TX public universities (UT Austin caps at the top 5%). (Must finish the required college-prep curriculum (Distinguished plan).)

Official program details ↗
Need-based TEXAS Grant
Up to $16,182/yr (tuition & required fees)
GPA: No GPA gate to qualify (3.0 / top-third = priority) Income: Need-based (federal Student Aid Index)

Texas's flagship need-based grant — no GPA gate to qualify (a 3.0 or top-third rank just gives priority when funds run short). (Enroll within 16 months of HS, ≥¾ time, in a bachelor's program.)

Official program details ↗
Merit Texas First Early Completion Scholarship
Scholarship equal to the TEXAS Grant amount
GPA: 3.0 Test: SAT/ACT at the 80th percentile OR top-10% class rank

Graduate at least a semester early with the Distinguished plan plus a 3.0 GPA and an 80th-percentile test (or top-10% rank) for a TEXAS Grant-sized scholarship. (Graduate at least a semester early with the Distinguished plan.)

Official program details ↗

Eligibility rules change yearly — confirm with the official program before relying on it. Amounts are recent published figures; awards cover tuition/fees, not housing or books unless noted. Verified 2026-06-14.

🎓 Graduation & Attendance

Does this school get students to the finish line — and keep them in the building?

Two things every family wants to know: do students graduate on time, and do they show up. These are TEA's official campus figures.

4-Year Graduation Rate
100%
Class of 2024, on-time
Attendance Rate
96%
share of days attended
Chronic Absenteeism
10%
miss ≥10% of school days — lower is better
Annual Dropout Rate
0%
grades 9-12, one year — lower is better

Source: Texas Education Agency, Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), 2024-25, All Students. Graduation = 4-year longitudinal rate (Class of 2024); attendance & dropout = SY2023-24. TEA masks small-group results for privacy.

🎯 College & Career Readiness

How ready are this school's graduates for what comes next?

Beyond graduating, are students prepared — for college, a career, or the military? These are TEA's official readiness measures for the most recent graduating class.

100%
College, Career & Military Ready (CCMR)
of graduates meet at least one readiness benchmark · 100% college-ready specifically
SAT / ACT
% Tested
100%
graduates taking SAT/ACT
Avg SAT
923
school mean (1600 scale)
Avg ACT
18
school mean (36 scale)
% College-Ready
9%
scored above TEA's criterion
Advanced coursework
% Taking AP/IB
54%
enrolled in AP or IB
% Above Criterion
54%
scored at the AP/IB benchmark
% Dual-Credit
90%
earning college credit in HS (gr 9-12)
What counts as CCMR-ready? →

Under TEA's accountability system, a graduate counts as College/Career/Military Ready by meeting any one of: a qualifying SAT/ACT or TSI score; AP/IB exam scores of 3+; college dual-credit with a C or better; an associate's degree; an industry-based certification; an OnRamps course; military enlistment; or an aligned career-prep program. It rolls "is this graduate prepared for what's next?" into one comparable number — which is why a school can post a high CCMR even when its average SAT is modest (strong career, military, and dual-credit pathways count too).

Source: Texas Education Agency, Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), 2024-25, All Students. CCMR / SAT-ACT / AP-IB = Class of 2024 graduates; dual-credit = grades 9-12. School SAT/ACT averages are campus means, not the scores of admitted college applicants. TEA masks small-group results for privacy.

⭐ Texas Accountability

TEA's official A–F rating: A (97/100).

The Texas Education Agency's official accountability grade for this campus — a single A–F letter and a 0–100 scaled score the state assigns to every public high school, rolled up from the domains below.

TEA Grade
A
97/100
Student Achievement
96 · A
School Progress
96 · A
Closing the Gaps
98 · A
What the A–F domains mean →

Student Achievement — STAAR performance plus, for high schools, college/career/military readiness and graduation. School Progress — academic growth and performance relative to schools with similar economic profiles. Closing the Gaps — outcomes across student groups. TEA awards the campus the better of two methods per domain; the overall grade is the weighted roll-up.

Source: Texas Education Agency, A–F Accountability Ratings (2024-25) via data.texas.gov; the state's official campus rating under Texas Education Code §39.054. Covers every rated Texas public high school.

📝 Texas State Testing

STAAR End-of-Course results: how many students meet grade level.

The share of students scoring Meets Grade Level or above on Texas's high-school End-of-Course exams — the state's core academic-proficiency benchmark, reported for every campus.

English I
70%
at Meets or above
Approaches 89% · Masters 19%
English II
79%
at Meets or above
Approaches 91% · Masters 10%
Algebra I
60%
at Meets or above
Approaches 91% · Masters 28%
Biology
64%
at Meets or above
Approaches 97% · Masters 13%
U.S. History
75%
at Meets or above
Approaches 98% · Masters 34%
What do Approaches / Meets / Masters mean? →

Texas reports STAAR at three rising bars: Approaches (likely to succeed in the next grade with support), Meets (solid command, on track for college/career readiness — the headline number above), and Masters (advanced command). End-of-Course exams are taken when a student finishes the course, so they reflect that subject's instruction, not a single grade.

Source: Texas Education Agency, Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) STAAR EOC performance, 2024-25, All Students. Small-group results are masked by TEA for privacy and shown only where reported.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
6.0%
Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.
Students absent 15+ days
26
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
215:1
Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.
Counselor FTE
2.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
27
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 126 in 2021 to 98 in 2024 — over 3 years.
-22.2%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -1.7%/year, projecting from 2024's 430 students:

2025
423
2027
408
2029
395

≈ 35 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue at risk

At $14,108 per student in district revenue, the 35 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $493,780/year in funding at risk.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
IDEA RIO GRANDE CITY COLLEGE PREPARATORY
RIO GRANDE CITY
Public · charter 1.0 292 +63.1%
GRULLA H S
RIO GRANDE CITY
Public 12.4 716 -0.3%
THELMA ROSA SALINAS STEM EARLY COLLEGE H S
LA JOYA
Public 25.1 471 +3.3%
JIMMY CARTER EARLY COLLEGE H S
LA JOYA
Public 25.1 327 -8.7%
IDEA COLLEGE PREPARATORY MISSION
MISSION
Public · charter 32.9 406 +0.2%
MISSION COLLEGIATE H S
ALTON
Public 32.9 399 -8.7%
RIO GRANDE CITY H S
RIO GRANDE CITY
Public 5.6 1,670 -4.7%
IDEA NORTH MISSION COLLEGE PREPARATORY
MISSION
Public · charter 34.0 376 -6.2%

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