1
What's the one class at T H MCDONALD J H every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
966
Middle
DISTRICT 1,173 · STATE 643
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·KATY ISD·NCES 482517021314
T H McDonald Junior High School
3635 LAKES OF BRIDGEWATER DR, KATY, TX 77449 · (281) 237-5300 · Harris County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL966 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 53% of Texas public middle schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
12.7:1
76 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.5:1 · STATE 14.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
73%
702 students
DISTRICT 46% · 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 | 304 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 344 | 36% |
| Grade 8 | 318 | 33% |
Student demographics
62%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 75% · 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
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on published attendance-zone data from KATY ISD. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
58.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +12.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
42.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +3.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 58 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 42 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 12 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 3 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 35.0% | 23.0% | 22.0% | 20.0% |
| Mathematics | 19.0% | 23.0% | 25.0% | 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 | 58.0% | 42.0% |
| 2024-25 | 59.0% | 34.0% |
| 2023-24 | 58.0% | 36.0% |
| 2022-23 | 55.0% | 40.0% |
| 2021-22 | 56.0% | 34.0% |
| 2020-21 | 46.0% | 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
44.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.7%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 43% 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 T H McDonald Junior High School
T H McDonald Junior High School's state test result (44.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| T H McDonald Junior High School this school | 966 | 72.7% | 44.1% |
| Labay Middle School HOUSTON | 1,067 | 69.6% | 48.6% |
| Mayde Creek Junior High School HOUSTON | 1,214 | 76.1% | 42.4% |
| Tanglewood Middle School HOUSTON | 836 | 65.0% | 40.7% |
| Kimbrough Middle School MESQUITE | 1,115 | 69.3% | 47.5% |
| Morton Ranch Junior High School KATY | 1,205 | 76.1% | 41.5% |
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 T H McDonald Junior High School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Harris County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 44.1% | #744 of 1,635 | #84 of 218 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 42.0% | #859 of 1,670 ▲ 284 | #119 of 219 ▲ 34 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 58.0% | #657 of 1,670 ▼ 75 | #71 of 219 ▼ 14 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +2.5pp | #1,234 of 1,570 | #175 of 216 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 966 | #317 of 1,749 | #81 of 227 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.7:1 | #280 of 1,542 | #33 of 215 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 61.6% | #451 of 1,543 | #58 of 215 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 72.7% | #665 of 1,648 | #141 of 221 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +4.1% | #344 of 437 | #31 of 41 |
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
966
-10 (-1%) vs 2020
-35% since 2000-01, when it was 1,492
Student : Teacher
12.7:1
was 15.0:1
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 | 966 | 76.2 | 12.7:1 | 73% (702) |
| 2023-24 | 1,007 | 77.8 | 12.9:1 | 73% (737) |
| 2022-23 | 1,059 | 68 | 15.6:1 | 75% (789) |
| 2020-21 | 976 | 65 | 15.0:1 | 64% (620) |
| 2017-18 | 928 | 65 | 14.3:1 | 59% (548) |
| 2015-16 | 1,061 | 69 | 15.4:1 | 61% (643) |
| 2010-11 | 949 | 63 | 15.1:1 | 59% (558) |
| 2000-01 | 1,492 | 93 | 16.0:1 | 19% (283) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for T H McDonald Junior High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (928 to 966); teachers up 17% (65 to 76.2).
About T H McDonald Junior High School
T H McDonald Junior High School is a public large middle school in KATY, Texas. The school has 966 students in 2024-25 across grades 6 through 8. Middle schools in Texas have about 643 students on average; enrollment here is 50% higher.
KATY ISD has 78 schools and 96,111 students, and T H McDonald Junior High School is one of those schools.
More than half of the students at T H McDonald Junior High School are Hispanic (55%). Beyond that, enrollment is 25% Black, 10% White, 7% Asian, and 2% multiracial. In Harris County overall, about 44% of residents are Hispanic. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, T H McDonald Junior High School scores 62%.
Classroom staffing at T H McDonald Junior High School totals 76.2 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 12.7:1. Statewide, middle schools in Texas average 14.4:1. Federal data show 73% of students (702) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The figure for public schools in Harris County is close, at 70%.
T H McDonald Junior High School holds a B- allk12 Grade, placing it above 53% of Texas public middle schools.
T H McDonald Junior High School sits between the top and bottom 10% of Texas schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 44.1% and a predicted 42.7%.
In the wider Harris County area, median household income comes to about $74,983, roughly 34% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 13%. Harris County counts 1,205 public schools with about 886,911 students.
About 0.2 miles separate T H McDonald Junior High School from the closest public school, Loraine T Golbow Elementary School. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Compared with its nearest neighbors, T H McDonald Junior High School ranks 4th of 7 on average proficiency.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Suburb: Large, meaning it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school's size has been steady, with 976 students in 2020-21 and 966 in 2024-25. The number of students per teacher dropped from 15.0 to 12.7 over 4 years.
The T H McDonald Junior High School discussion page is a place for special education services, counseling, and support programs. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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 KATY ISD
- Seven Lakes High SchoolHigh · 3,773 students
- Cinco Ranch High SchoolHigh · 3,740 students
- Katy High SchoolHigh · 3,543 students
- Paetow High SchoolHigh · 3,447 students
- Taylor High SchoolHigh · 3,384 students
- Jordan High SchoolHigh · 3,330 students
Other schools in KATY
- Seven Lakes High SchoolHigh · 3,773 students
- Cinco Ranch High SchoolHigh · 3,740 students
- Katy High SchoolHigh · 3,543 students
- Paetow High SchoolHigh · 3,447 students
- Taylor High SchoolHigh · 3,384 students
- Jordan High SchoolHigh · 3,330 students
Nearby schools
- Loraine T Golbow Elementary School0.2 mi · 640
- Calvin Nelms High School0.7 mi · 183
- Calvin Nelms Middle School0.7 mi · 160
- Morton Ranch Junior High School1.2 mi · 1,205
- Robinson Elementary School1.2 mi · 908
- Morton Ranch Elementary School1.2 mi · 969
Frequently asked questions
About T H McDonald Junior High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at T H McDonald Junior High School?
T H McDonald Junior High School enrolls approximately 966 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does T H McDonald Junior High School serve?
T H McDonald Junior High School serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at T H McDonald Junior High School?
Approximately 12.7:1 students per teacher at T H McDonald Junior High School.
How diverse is T H McDonald Junior High School?
T H McDonald Junior High School reports a student body of 10% White, 55% Hispanic, 25% Black, 7% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees T H McDonald Junior High School?
T H McDonald Junior High School is overseen by KATY ISD in Harris County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.