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How has HIGHLANDS J H changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
885
Middle
DISTRICT 890 · STATE 643
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·GOOSE CREEK CISD·NCES 482115002113
Highlands Junior High School
1212 E WALLISVILLE RD, HIGHLANDS, TX 77562 · (281) 420-4695 · Harris County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL885 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.9:1
56 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.5:1 · STATE 14.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
85%
755 students
DISTRICT 76% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 284 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 301 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 300 | 34% |
Student demographics
47%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 52% · STATE 63% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
42.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +15.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
30.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -9.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 30 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 15 points since 2020, while math scores are down about 9 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 16.0% | 26.0% | 26.0% | 32.0% |
| Mathematics | 6.0% | 24.0% | 31.0% | 39.0% |
Share of tested students at each STAAR level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
STAAR results by year
| School year | Reading | Mathematics |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 42.0% | 30.0% |
| 2024-25 | 42.0% | 34.0% |
| 2023-24 | 45.0% | 39.0% |
| 2022-23 | 35.0% | 42.0% |
| 2021-22 | 32.0% | 33.0% |
| 2020-21 | 27.0% | 39.0% |
% Meets Grade Level or Above, all students and all tested grades.
Source: STAAR. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
37.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.3%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 38% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 37% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Texas's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Highlands Junior High School
Highlands Junior High School's state test result (37.8% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands Junior High School this school | 885 | 85.3% | 37.8% |
| Jane Long BRYAN | 895 | 86.9% | 29.6% |
| Cardiff Junior High School KATY | 803 | 82.4% | 44.7% |
| Lanny Frasier Middle School MESQUITE | 959 | 84.7% | 40.6% |
| Vanston Middle School MESQUITE | 728 | 84.5% | 36.4% |
| P E Wallace Middle School MOUNT PLEASANT | 698 | 82.2% | 44.6% |
Matched among Texas middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Highlands Junior High School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Harris County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.8% | #1,038 of 1,635 | #131 of 218 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 30.0% | #1,364 of 1,670 ▼ 225 | #191 of 219 ▼ 41 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 42.0% | #1,395 of 1,670 ▼ 85 | #185 of 219 ▼ 19 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -2.5pp | #157 of 1,570 | #16 of 216 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 885 | #428 of 1,749 | #97 of 227 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.9:1 | #1,068 of 1,542 | #142 of 215 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 47.4% | #964 of 1,543 | #129 of 215 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 85.3% | #379 of 1,648 | #101 of 221 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -22.1% | #285 of 942 | #57 of 145 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
885
-397 (-31%) vs 2020
+36% since 1990-91, when it was 653
Student : Teacher
15.9:1
was 17.6:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 885 | 55.8 | 15.9:1 | 85% (755) |
| 2023-24 | 924 | 64 | 14.4:1 | 81% (750) |
| 2022-23 | 994 | 67.5 | 14.7:1 | 81% (810) |
| 2020-21 | 1,282 | 73 | 17.6:1 | 63% (805) |
| 2017-18 | 1,136 | 64.9 | 17.5:1 | 54% (612) |
| 2015-16 | 1,144 | 69 | 16.6:1 | 49% (561) |
| 2010-11 | 1,117 | 68 | 16.4:1 | 56% (626) |
| 2000-01 | 643 | 38 | 16.9:1 | 35% (226) |
| 1990-91 | 653 | 34 | 19.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Highlands Junior High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 22% (1,136 to 885); teachers down 14% (64.9 to 55.8).
About Highlands Junior High School
Highlands Junior High School is a medium-sized middle school serving families in HIGHLANDS, Texas. It educates 885 students in grades 6 through 8. The typical figure for middle schools in Texas is about 643 students.
GOOSE CREEK CISD has 34 schools and 24,032 students, and Highlands Junior High School is one of those schools.
Highlands Junior High School's enrollment is 70% Hispanic. The remaining shares are 15% White and 12% Black. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Harris County's population at about 44%. By the diversity index, Highlands Junior High School comes in at 47%.
The count of teachers at Highlands Junior High School is 55.8 full-time equivalents, for a ratio of 15.9:1. The average ratio among middle schools in Texas is 14.4:1, lower than at this school. Around 85% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Harris County is 70%.
On BeatsExpectations, Highlands Junior High School is within a point of its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of Texas schools.
Across Harris County, median household income is about $74,983, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 34%, and roughly 13% of residents are in poverty. Highlands Junior High School is among the 1,205 public schools in Harris County.
The closest other public school is Hopper Primary School, about 0.8 miles away. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Highlands Junior High School ranks 1st of 6 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 37.8% against a local average of 34.1%.
Locale: Suburb: Large. In NCES terms, the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The 2024-25 enrollment of 885 was 31% lower than in 2020-21, when it was 1,282. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio fell from 17.6:1 to 15.9:1.
To ask about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater, start a discussion on this page. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Harris County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
4,838,303
Census ACS
Median income
$74,983
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
1,205
886,911 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in GOOSE CREEK CISD
- Goose Creek MemorialHigh · 2,335 students
- Sterling High SchoolHigh · 2,150 students
- Lee High SchoolHigh · 1,747 students
- E F Green Junior SchoolMiddle · 1,095 students
- Gentry Junior High SchoolMiddle · 1,013 students
- Cedar Bayou Junior High SchoolMiddle · 869 students
Other schools in HIGHLANDS
- Highlands Elementary SchoolElementary · 868 students
- Hopper Primary SchoolElementary · 239 students
- Point Alternative CenterHigh · 96 students
Nearby schools
- Hopper Primary School0.8 mi · 239
- Highlands Elementary School0.8 mi · 868
- Point Alternative Center1.2 mi · 96
- Harlem Elementary School2.2 mi · 575
- Baytown Junior High School2.9 mi · 711
- Travis Elementary School3.0 mi · 709
Frequently asked questions
About Highlands Junior High SchoolHow many students attend Highlands Junior High School?
Highlands Junior High School enrolls approximately 885 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Highlands Junior High School serve?
Highlands Junior High School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many teachers does Highlands Junior High School have?
Highlands Junior High School employs 56 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.9:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Highlands Junior High School?
At Highlands Junior High School, the student body is approximately 15% White, 70% Hispanic, 12% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is Highlands Junior High School public or private?
Highlands Junior High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by GOOSE CREEK CISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.