(Ericka Mellon, Houston Chronicle)
Lyons Elementary Principal Cecilia Gonzales says proudly that her north Houston campus is a 90-90-90 school.
More than 90 percent of the students are Hispanic and about the same proportion come from low-income families. Yet, defying the odds, more than 90 percent pass state exams in reading, writing, math and science year after year.
“We’re very proud of what we do here,” Gonzales says. “We want the world to know it doesn’t matter where your child comes from. You get a good teacher, your child is going to excel.”
Lyons’ success, particularly with disadvantaged children, earned the school a top spot this year in the annual Children at Risk School Rankings. Lyons was named the second-best elementary school in the greater Houston area.
Children at Risk, a Houston-based research and advocacy nonprofit, ranked 1,196 public elementary, middle and high schools in eight local counties, based on student test scores, attendance and other factors. The ranking formula gives extra credit to schools that serve large concentrations of low-income students because poverty is strongly linked to test scores.
The Houston Independent School District swept the top three spots on each of the elementary, middle and high school lists.
The No. 1 high school is DeBakey High School for Health Professions. T.H. Rogers, which serves gifted students in kindergarten through eighth grade, earned first place on the elementary and middle school lists.
Fort Bend ISD and the charter schools KIPP and YES Prep also had multiple campuses in the top 10. (Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle)
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