Campus · Traditional
Ponder HS
Denton County · Region 11: Fort Worth · 560 students
Ponder HS is rated A by TEA, scoring 95 out of 100 for 2025-26 — above the 85.5 average of the 1,234 schools serving a similar share of economically disadvantaged students, and above the statewide average of 81.3. It is up 18 points since 2021-22 — both years scored under TEA's current rules, since TEA rewrote them in 2023; under the rules in force back then it scored 86.
Ranks 247th of 7,646 Texas schools (tied with 131 others), and 26th of 839 in Region 11: Fort Worth (tied with 8 others).
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5 years of ratings
2021-22 is shown under the refreshed methodology TEA adopted in 2023, so it is comparable with later years. Under the original scoring it was rated B with 86 that year.
| Year | Rating | Score | Similar | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | A | 95 | 85.5 | 81.3 |
| 2024-25 | A | 92 | 85.5 | 81.2 |
| 2023-24 | B | 84 | 83.9 | 78.9 |
| 2022-23 | C | 76 | 84.3 | 79.1 |
| 2021-22 | C | 77 | 86.1 | 83.7 |
How this school's change over time is ranked
TEA publishes most measures for one year only, so a change ranking exists just where the same figure is published across years — the overall score, the five score domains, and per-student spending. This page does not yet state where Ponder HS itself places on these lists, only that the lists exist; open one to find this school's own row.
Texas schools
Where the score comes from
Texas builds the overall rating from the better of Student Achievement and School Progress, weighted 70%, plus Closing the Gaps at 30%. School Progress is itself the better of Academic Growth and Relative Performance. The 60, 70, 80 and 90 rules mark the letter-grade thresholds.
- Ponder HS
- Similar student population (1,234)
- Region 11: Fort Worth (839)
| Domain | Score | Grade | Points to next grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student Achievement | 95 | A | — |
| School Progress | 92 | A | — |
| Closing the Gaps | 95 | A | — |
| Academic Growth | 81 | B | 9 |
| Relative Performance | 92 | A | — |
TEA does not add the domains up. The overall score is the better of Student Achievement and School Progress at 70%, plus Closing the Gaps at 30%. For this school that better measure is Student Achievement (95), so School Progress (92) is published above but does not enter the overall score at all — gaining points there changes nothing until it passes 95.
Student outcomes
STAAR performance
- Approaches grade level
- Meets grade level
- Masters grade level
- Tick: Similar student population (1,234)
Percentage of tests at or above each level. Masters is a subset of Meets, which is a subset of Approaches. The tick on each bar marks the average for Similar student population (1,234 schools) — a comparison TEA does not publish.
Graduation
- Four-Year
- 99.2%+5.7 pts vs similar
- Five-Year
- 100.0%+6.9 pts vs similar
- Six-Year
- 96.3%+3.8 pts vs similar
- Dropout Rate
- 0.0%−0.3 pts vs similar
College, career and military readiness
| Criterion | This school | similar | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total credit for CCMR criteria | 98.0% | 89.3% | +8.7 |
| Scored at or above the college ready standard on SAT, ACT, TSIA, or earned credit for a college prep course | 69.2% | 63.1% | +6.1 |
| Scored at or above the college ready standard on SAT, ACT, TSIA | 34.2% | 38.1% | −3.9 |
| Met criterion score on AP/IB exam(s) | 5.0% | 16.3% | −11.3 |
| Earned college credit for a dual credit course | 22.5% | 37.4% | −14.9 |
| Earned an industry-based certification | 57.5% | 36.1% | +21.4 |
| Earned a level I or level II certificate | 2.5% | 1.0% | +1.5 |
| Earned an associate degree | 0.0% | 4.3% | −4.3 |
| Completed an OnRamps course and qualified for college credit | 15.8% | 6.1% | +9.7 |
| Graduated with completed individualized education program (IEP) and workforce readiness | 3.3% | 2.7% | +0.6 |
| Graduated under an advanced diploma plan and identified as a current special education student | 15.0% | 7.1% | +7.9 |
| Enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces | 5.8% | 3.2% | +2.6 |
Who this school serves
Placed after the results deliberately: this is context for reading them, not an explanation of them.
- Students
- 560
- Economically disadvantaged
- 36.4%−0.8 pts vs similar
- English learners
- 12.1%+1.3 pts vs similar
- Special education
- 10.4%−7.4 pts vs similar
- Attendance
- 94.6%−0.4 pts vs similar
- Chronically absent
- 14.1%+2.3 pts vs similar
Student demographics
- African American 1.6%
- Hispanic 37.5%
- White 56.1%
- American Indian 0.9%
- Asian 0.4%
- Two or More Races 3.6%
Spending per student
Compared against TEA's own peer group, which controls for size and student population, and against the state.
- Ponder HS
- TEA peer group
- Texas average
TEA's published file does not include peer-group spending for this entity, so no comparison is shown.
Not reported by TEA for this entity: peer.
Teachers
- Average salary
- $73,231+$5,507 vs similar
- Teachers
- 43
- Students per staff member
- 13
Teaching experience
- Beginning 0.9%
- 1 to 5 years 15.7%
- 6 to 10 years 21.8%
- 11 to 20 years 40%
- 21 to 30 years 15.3%
- Over 30 years 6.5%
Where this school ranks best
Out of 164 rankings computed across every published metric and every comparison group, these are the placements that stand out. Press Copy for a citable sentence.
-
1of 24
Graduated under an advanced diploma plan and identified as a current special education student
Denton County · of the 24 that report this measure
-
1of 22
Five-Year Graduation Rate
Denton County (standard accountability only) · of the 22 that report this measure · tied with 2
-
2of 24
College, career or military ready
Denton County · of the 24 that report this measure
-
2of 24
Earned a level I or level II certificate
Denton County · of the 24 that report this measure
-
3of 174
Relative Performance
Denton County · of the 174 that report this measure
-
3of 152
Graduated under an advanced diploma plan and identified as a current special education student
Region 11: Fort Worth · of the 152 that report this measure
-
3of 24
Enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces
Denton County · of the 24 that report this measure
-
4of 179
Overall score
Denton County · of the 179 that report this measure · tied with 1
-
4of 172
Closing the Gaps
Denton County · of the 172 that report this measure
-
5of 24
Scored at or above the college ready standard on SAT, ACT, TSIA, or earned credit for a college prep course
Denton County · of the 24 that report this measure
-
5of 24
Completed an OnRamps course and qualified for college credit
Denton County · of the 24 that report this measure
-
6of 24
Earned an industry-based certification
Denton County · of the 24 that report this measure
These are selected high placements, not a summary. Every figure above this section is the full picture, including where this campus ranks poorly. Each statement below states its cohort and its denominator so it can be checked — a rank without an n is a boast, not a fact. Ties are shown because a shared ceiling is not a sole first place. Every ranking this site publishes, including the ones no school would put in a press release.
Where this comes from
Every figure on this page comes from data the Texas Education Agency publishes at txschools.gov, fetched 15 August 2026 and archived with a checksum so each number stays traceable to the bytes TEA served.
Download the full dataset · this campus's district
Single-file records are pre-built for districts only, so there is no per-campus CSV to
link here — 9,086 entities in two formats is 18,172 assets, on top of everything else this site
publishes, and that is past the 20,000-asset limit this site is published under. This campus is a row
in the bulk files on the download page, keyed by its TEA id 061906001.