More than 86% of students across the district are considered economically disadvantaged, meaning they qualify for free or reduced lunch. At the junior high, the number is only slightly lower, at nearly 85%.<\/p>\n
To Roni Gonzales, who\u2019s served as Somerset Junior High principal for five years and has been with the district since 2005, it\u2019s all about looking at the data and building a student\u2019s confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always looking at growth \u2014 we\u2019re daily looking at data and adjusting as we go,\u201d Gonzales said. \u201cOur whole concept, especially around a middle school student, is building confidence. \u2026 Even if it\u2019s dance or mariachi, we bring confidence out in kids to perform, which they can then take into an algebra class or history class.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the latest round of state accountability ratings released for the 2022-23 school year, the junior high received an A rating, while the school district scored a B.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the 2023-24 ratings are held up in state courts<\/a> and the 2024-25 ratings are on track to be released in August by the Texas Education Agency, there are more recent benchmarks reflecting Somerset ISD\u2019s effectiveness.<\/p>\n The Education Recovery Scorecard, a project that measures changes in student achievement, listed Somerset ISD as one of about 100 school districts in the country that\u2019s performing above pre-pandemic levels in both math and reading in their 2024 report.\u00a0<\/p>\n Released in February, the report compares school districts\u2019 performance to national averages from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, detailing recovery efforts in a post-COVID world. The report found that the average U.S. student remains half a grade level behind in math and reading<\/a>, and wealthier districts are nearly four times more likely than poorer districts to academically recover.<\/p>\n \u201cStill, we see examples of higher-poverty districts recovering in reading and math,\u201d the report says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Measuring performance<\/p>\n State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) scores for the spring of 2025 released this month show Somerset ISD students outperforming most school districts in the San Antonio area<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Algebra I<\/a>, a test taken by nearly all eighth-graders at Somerset Junior High, about 70% of students scored on grade level or higher across the district. Across Texas, fewer than half of students scored on grade level.\u00a0<\/p>\n This year\u2019s results mark a 12 percentage point increase compared to 2019 Algebra I scores for the junior high and an overall eight point improvement for the district.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite seeing small gains each school year, none of the big three school districts in San Antonio \u2014 Northside ISD, North East ISD and San Antonio ISD \u2014 have gotten back to pre-COVID levels on the Algebra I STAAR. The number of students who met grade level this year in those districts fell between 12% and 22% compared to 2019.<\/p>\n Gonzales credits her school\u2019s substantial improvement in math to a locally designed curriculum designed by Somerset Junior High teachers that tailors lessons based on students\u2019 individual needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n The school has no \u201chonors\u201d classes, meaning students performing at different levels often work and learn together, allowing for stronger students to help struggling students.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re learning from each other. They\u2019re sharing ideas with each other. They share their strategies,\u201d Gonzales said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teachers also individualize instruction for students based on past STAAR performance, Gonzales added, meaning the same lesson may be presented differently for a student who \u201capproached\u201d grade level in their performance, compared to a student who met or mastered grade level content.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe know all students by name and need,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n Writing their own curriculums<\/p>\n Wesley Thompson is the executive master teacher at Somerset Junior High for seventh grade math and Algebra I, and part of his job is helping other teachers write their own curriculums and lesson plans to meet specific student needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA state curriculum is one-size-fits-all, and when I first started teaching that size wasn\u2019t fitting our kids very well,\u201d Thompson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n His focus at the school has been differentiating between different levels of learners and creating detailed \u201cprofiles\u201d for kids, a change the school implemented in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then, the campus and school district went from a B to an A rating for the 2021-22 school year resulting in a visit from Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath where he called the gains seen at Somerset ISD as \u201cnothing short of extraordinary<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Looking at the school\u2019s daily performance data, Thompson, who\u2019s been with Somerset ISD for 10 years, said he\u2019s learned that struggling students need to be taught in the same classroom as students who mastered their grade level on STAAR exams.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thompson laid out an example of how differentiated instruction might work in a seventh-grade classroom: while a master student might be asked to calculate an 8.25% sales tax, a student who meets grade level would be asked to calculate 8%, and an \u201capproaches\u201d grade level student would be asked to calculate 10%.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem for lower-performing kids is that they\u2019re usually in intervention classes surrounded by other struggling kids,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cBeing in a group with higher-level students and just seeing and hearing the way they think and how they approach math and how they approach being a student, really benefits our struggling learner.\u201d <\/p>\n Beyond academics, Thompson and his boss, Gonzales, credit the campus culture and the district\u2019s wraparound services in fostering student growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Currently, the school has 15 teachers that qualify for the Teacher Incentive Allotment, a system that rewards eligible teachers\u2019 \u201ceffectiveness\u201d<\/a> in the classroom with yearly stipends that range from $3,000 to $32,000 depending on a teacher\u2019s skill and their campus needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI have a very low turnover rate,\u201d Gonzales told the Report. \u201cI attribute that to our district beliefs, the campus that we have and the way we take care of students and teachers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ScottBall_somerset-high-school-isd-football-coach-detmer-allen-bulldogs-football-vs-wimberley-9-25-2.jpeg\")
Somerset High School faces Wimberley High School at a 2020 football game. Credit: Scott Ball \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/bria-woods-Somerset-ISD-board-trustees-Dr.Saul-Hinojosa-retirement-20MAR23-14.jpg\")
The Somerset ISD board of trustees meets inside of the Somerset High School Performing Arts Center in 2023. Credit: Bria Woods \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/E7B1B159-7BB4-4138-858D-311E661F4E5C.jpeg\")
Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath visits Somerset ISD in 2022 after it was announced the Southside district earned an A in state accountability ratings on academic achievement. Credit: Scott Ball \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n