Joey Rodriguez Junior High opened its doors in east Arlington for the first time last year to hundreds of excited students.
Less than a mile away, Thornton Elementary welcomed students inside for its 69th year of operating.
The two schools weren’t just connected by close distance. They were nearing the verge of a possible closure or takeover after three consecutive F-ratings on the Texas Education Agency’s accountability rating system.
The schools have improved so much in the past year, according to the state, that they averted their fourth F.
The Texas Education Agency announced the schools each received a D Friday morning.
That avoids a situation where the campuses would be one year away from triggering a law requiring the state to either close the schools or replace the district’s elected school board and superintendent with state appointees.
However, a future intervention is possible. The state deems both F and D ratings unacceptable. Under the state law dictating intervention, a D does not break the chain of F ratings — it delays the chain by a year.
Superintendent Matt Smith said he’s proud of the work to improve the schools and glad that a state intervention isn’t in the immediate future.
“It’s a bigger picture for me because I want our kids to be able to thrive academically all the time, no matter what the measure is, and we’re going to keep chipping away at that,” Smith said.
The first in a string of F’s for the schools came in 2023, a year after the TEA changed its methodology for calculating the ratings and an update changed the state’s standardized tests.
In 2025, Arlington ISD joined a list of 61 other public school districts in the state to receive at least three consecutive F-ratings.
In the Texas Education Agency’s latest accountability ratings, the schools hit their highest marks in the state’s measures since 2024.
Rodriguez Junior High and Thornton Elementary have been under district-developed turnaround plans since 2025.
The agency requires districts with failing campuses to create targeted improvement plans for campuses with one year of failing accountability ratings and turnaround plans for campuses with more than one year of failing ratings.
Rodriguez Junior High saw a high level of professional staff turnover in 2022, according to its turnaround plan. That year, the campus was a C.
In 2025, the district saw a professional staff turnover of 25%, according to the turnaround plan. The plan also identified the delivery of instructionally aligned lessons as an issue, specifically with teachers who had less than three years of experience.
The plan called for extra targeted instruction for struggling students. It also called for additional support staff and targeted professional learning for teachers.
Thornton has focused on instruction and providing more professional learning for teachers, according to the turnaround plan.
Both schools also received state and federal funds to hire support staff. Rodriguez received roughly $446,000, while Thornton got about $533,000.
The schools also saw growth in performance on the most recent State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, tests.
Ratings are largely based on STAAR. The grades also consider how well a school is ensuring some student groups are not being left behind and how well the school performs over time compared to other similar campuses.
Thornton Elementary saw gains on each test at each level between 2025 and 2026, except for third-grade math.
Thornton students outperformed the campus’ pre-pandemic results, except for fifth-grade social studies and sixth-grade math.
Rodriguez Junior High also saw gains. On most tests, students met the grade-level standards more than last year. The outlier was the seventh-grade math test, where the percentage of proficient students dropped from 21% to 8% between 2025 and 2026.
Rodriguez Junior High also saw gains. On most tests, students met the grade-level standards more than last year. The outlier was the seventh-grade math test, where the percentage of proficient students dropped from 21% to 8% between 2025 and 2026.
Smith said that multiple factors helped at the schools, but two stood out: training teachers and the instructional materials.
He said that instructional coaches targeted core content areas and helped show those educators how to teach the state’s standards.
“At both of those schools, pairing (instructional coaching) with high-quality instructional materials has paid off for both,” Smith said.
Trustee Justin Chapa, who has been on the board since 2017, said the recent growth shows what the district is doing is working. He added that the change in how accountability ratings are measured in 2023 also played a role in the district’s drop in scores.
“We were one point away from (Rodriguez Junior High) not contributing to the risk of a state takeover,” Chapa said. “It is only by the reference to the drastic changes in 2023 that we have a lot of ground to cover at all, and even so, we’re doing it.”
Board President Sarah McMurrough said she is happy to see growth and that she believes in the leadership at both schools, along with the district’s academic support, to bring Thornton and Rodriguez out of the unacceptable chain.
“I’m confident in the teachers and leaders at Rodriguez Junior High and Thornton Elementary that the effort that they are putting in will only continue to improve performance, not just as measured by STAAR, but in a way that no assessments can measure — to create an optimal environment for our kids,” McMurrough said.
Looking to the future
Smith said he wants to apply what helped campuses like Thornton and Rodriguez districtwide.
While Rodriguez Junior High and Thornton Elementary were the closest to triggering possible state intervention, they weren’t the only schools with three straight F-ratings.
Around 2.5 miles from Thornton, Blanton Elementary saw years of academic decline. Earlier this year, trustees voted to close the 69-year-old school in May because of major repairs and declining enrollment.
Blanton’s 2026 rating rose 25 points from an F to a B.
Blanton was one of eight F-rated schools going into the new year. Seven of those, including Blanton, moved up to at least a D. Still, four elementary schools dropped to an F.
Smith attributed the gains to the targeted support at the low-performing schools. He said the district will identify the support needed for the new F-rated schools.
Principal supervisors monitor data about the needs and will work with campus leaders to determine what students require, Smith said.
“We really try and take a look at exactly what the campuses need and identify the resources that we need to provide as a district to move them forward,” Smith said.
He added that the use of state-approved instructional materials will be important.
“While we’re really proud of the growth that we’ve had, we don’t like to see that some campuses slip back a little bit,” Smith said. “We’ve got to maintain that momentum.”
McMurrough said she knows the district will continue to serve all campuses.
“We will maintain focus and wraparound supports for Rodriguez and Thornton without compromising the supports that we know our other campuses need,” McMurrough said.
Bringing two schools above an F was a momentary win, but the work to eliminate all F-ratings in the district will continue, Smith said.
“My message to the community is we’re absolutely proud of the work, but we’re not done, and we’re going to keep making them proud because we made a promise to them that we’re going to help them thrive in our school system and achieve academic excellence,” Smith said.
Chris Moss is a reporter for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@arlingtonreport.org.
At the Arlington Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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