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Alumni: what's one memory from JOY JAMES ACADEMY OF LEADERSHIP that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
471
Elementary
DISTRICT 619 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CASTLEBERRY ISD·NCES 481317000819
Joy James Academy of Leadership
5300 BUCHANAN ST, FORT WORTH, TX 76114 · (817) 252-2500 · Tarrant County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL471 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 55% of Texas public elementary schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C+Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Texas public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.3:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.9:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
92%
431 students
DISTRICT 92% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 74 | 16% |
| Kindergarten | 68 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 63 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 67 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 74 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 66 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 59 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (68) is 15% larger than its 5th grade class (59).
Student demographics
27%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 26% · 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
51.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +21.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
37.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +15.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 51 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 37 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 21 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 15 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 20.0% | 31.0% | 28.0% | 21.0% |
| Mathematics | 13.0% | 24.0% | 30.0% | 33.0% |
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 | 51.0% | 37.0% |
| 2024-25 | 51.0% | 39.0% |
| 2023-24 | 47.0% | 42.0% |
| 2022-23 | 41.0% | 42.0% |
| 2021-22 | 46.0% | 54.0% |
| 2020-21 | 30.0% | 22.0% |
% 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
41.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.6%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% 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 Joy James Academy of Leadership
Joy James Academy of Leadership's state test result (41.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joy James Academy of Leadership this school | 471 | 91.5% | 41.2% |
| Moore Elementary School CORPUS CHRISTI | 484 | 90.7% | 38.3% |
| Glenwood Elementary School AMARILLO | 455 | 90.5% | 46.5% |
| Washington Elementary School SHERMAN | 464 | 91.8% | 22.1% |
| Hopkins Elementary School VICTORIA | 439 | 92.7% | 25.4% |
| Sam Houston Elementary School ODESSA | 450 | 89.3% | 30.1% |
Matched among Texas elementary 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 Joy James Academy of Leadership ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Tarrant County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.2% | #2,439 of 4,401 | #144 of 330 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.0% | #3,189 of 4,466 ▼ 388 | #214 of 339 ▼ 34 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 51.0% | #2,356 of 4,466 ▼ 30 | #160 of 339 ▼ 11 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +2.5pp | #2,464 of 3,998 | #180 of 320 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 471 | #2,808 of 4,938 | #199 of 353 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.3:1 | #1,813 of 4,622 | #139 of 348 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 27.4% | #3,514 of 4,628 | #313 of 348 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 91.5% | #906 of 4,789 | #73 of 341 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -4.3% | #2,509 of 2,838 | #217 of 242 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
471
+62 (+15%) vs 2020
+48% since 1990-91, when it was 319
Student : Teacher
14.3:1
was 13.6:1
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 | 471 | 32.9 | 14.3:1 | 92% (431) |
| 2023-24 | 441 | 37.8 | 11.7:1 | 92% (405) |
| 2022-23 | 446 | 35.9 | 12.4:1 | 89% (398) |
| 2020-21 | 409 | 30 | 13.6:1 | 90% (367) |
| 2017-18 | 492 | 37.8 | 13.0:1 | 89% (437) |
| 2015-16 | 530 | 38 | 13.9:1 | 88% (468) |
| 2010-11 | 489 | 34 | 14.4:1 | 89% (437) |
| 2000-01 | 343 | 26 | 13.2:1 | 63% (217) |
| 1990-91 | 319 | 17 | 18.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Joy James Academy of Leadership.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (492 to 471); teachers down 13% (37.8 to 32.9).
About Joy James Academy of Leadership
Families in FORT WORTH, Texas, are served by Joy James Academy of Leadership, a mid-sized elementary school. Students in pre-K through 5 make up the school's enrollment of 471 students.
Joy James Academy of Leadership sits within CASTLEBERRY ISD, which has 7 schools and 3,851 students.
The share of students at Joy James Academy of Leadership who are Hispanic is 85%. Enrollment also includes 8% White, 4% Black, and 3% multiracial. Among people living in Tarrant County, the Hispanic share is about 30%. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 27%.
Joy James Academy of Leadership lists 32.9 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 14.3 students per teacher. By comparison, the average for elementary schools in Texas is 15.1:1. About 92% of students at Joy James Academy of Leadership are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The 63% average for public schools in Tarrant County is 29 points lower.
On the allk12 Grade, Joy James Academy of Leadership lands at B, ahead of 55% of Texas public elementary schools.
Compared with Texas schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Joy James Academy of Leadership's results are 6.6 points above predicted: 41.2% against 34.6%.
Looking at the county, Tarrant County, median household income comes to about $84,207, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 35% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 8%. The county's public schools total 639, with about 385,835 students.
Lucyle Collins Middle School sits about 0.5 miles from Joy James Academy of Leadership. Joy James Academy of Leadership has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Joy James Academy of Leadership comes in 1st of 8 nearby schools on average proficiency.
The school's federal locale classification is Suburb: Large.
From 409 students in 2020-21, enrollment rose to 471 by 2024-25.
Joy James Academy of Leadership has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Tarrant County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,167,390
Census ACS
Median income
$84,207
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
639
385,835 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in CASTLEBERRY ISD
- Castleberry High SchoolHigh · 1,085 students
- Irma Marsh Middle SchoolMiddle · 840 students
- Castleberry Elementary SchoolElementary · 754 students
- A V Cato Elementary SchoolElementary · 633 students
- Reach High SchoolHigh · 41 students
- T R U C E Learning CenterHigh · 27 students
Other schools in FORT WORTH
- V R Eaton High SchoolHigh · 3,288 students
- Timber Creek High SchoolHigh · 2,970 students
- North Crowley High SchoolHigh · 2,936 students
- Boswell High SchoolHigh · 2,445 students
- Chisholm Trail High SchoolHigh · 2,258 students
- Paschal High SchoolHigh · 2,127 students
Nearby schools
- Lucyle Collins Middle School0.5 mi · 735
- Marilyn Miller Language Academy0.7 mi · 509
- W J Turner Elementary School1.0 mi · 341
- Premier H S - Fort Worth (jacksboro)1.4 mi · 101
- Lake Worth High School1.5 mi · 953
- Marine Creek Leadership Academy1.6 mi · 347
Frequently asked questions
About Joy James Academy of LeadershipHow many students attend Joy James Academy of Leadership?
Joy James Academy of Leadership enrolls approximately 471 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Joy James Academy of Leadership serve?
Joy James Academy of Leadership serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Joy James Academy of Leadership?
Approximately 14.3:1 students per teacher at Joy James Academy of Leadership.
What is the student diversity at Joy James Academy of Leadership?
Student demographics at Joy James Academy of Leadership are roughly 8% White, 85% Hispanic, 4% Black, 0% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Is Joy James Academy of Leadership public or private?
Joy James Academy of Leadership is a public K-12 school, overseen by CASTLEBERRY ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.