United Independent School District ranks high in the state among top-performing campuses, receiving its 7th consecutive “A” in the 2026 State Accountability Ratings released by the Texas Education Agency.

Out of 1,202 districts across the state, United ISD is one out of only 30 districts to earn 7 “As” back-to-back since the inception of this accountability system.

“Earning a 7th consecutive "A" rating from the Texas Education Agency is a historic achievement that reflects a deeply ingrained culture of excellence within the United Independent School District,” said UISD Superintendent Dr. Gerardo Cruz.

All four high schools - United High School, United South High School, John B. Alexander High School and Lyndon B. Johnson High School - received “A” ratings for the 2025-2026 school year. United High School was the district’s top-ranked campus with a 96.

The district also has 17 campuses that came in with “A” ratings and seven campuses went from a “B” to an “A” rating from the 2024-25 to 2025-2026 school year.

The district’s “A” campuses are as follows: United High School, United South High School, John B. Alexander High School, Lyndon B. Johnson High School, United South Middle, Los Obispos Middle, Trautmann Middle, Antonio Gonzalez Middle, Clark Elementary, Trautmann Elementary, Kazen Elementary, Juarez-Lincoln Elementary, Kennedy-Zapata Elementary, Centeno Elementary, Malakoff Elementary, Freedom Elementary, and San Isidro Elementary.

Trautmann Elementary is an all-A campus - the district’s only such school. It’s a major milestone for the campus that earned all “As” across all four domains that are Student Achievement, School Progress: Academic Growth, School Progress: Relative Performance and Closing the Gaps.

Jessica C. Salazar, former United High School principal who led her campus to repeated academic success, said that earning an “A” is a result of several factors.

“At the end of the day, it’s a team. It’s not just about administration, the teachers. It’s about everybody. It’s parents, it’s students, it’s teachers, it’s administration, it’s all our paraprofessional staff, and the campus as a whole,” said Salazar, who is now the Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction..

“Accountability is everywhere. It’s at every subject. And so it takes a team, it takes a family. I love UISD, and I know that we’re going to continue with our mission and our vision, and that is to have students succeed to the next level,” she added.

During the testing period, the district served more than 39,000 students across 53 campuses.

On Thursday, the district gathered principals to celebrate the district’s outstanding success. They cheered as Dr. Cruz officially announced the good news, and then enjoyed ice cream sundaes in front of seven big golden balloons “As” strung at the front of the room.

While United ISD is facing challenging times financially, it has maintained academic excellence while other districts in similar situations across the state have struggled to maintain “B” and “C” ratings.

“What makes this accomplishment even more remarkable is the context in which it was achieved. Like public school districts across Texas, United ISD continues to navigate significant state-level funding constraints and rising operational costs. Yet, throughout these financial headwinds, our commitment to our core mission has never wavered,” Dr. Cruz said.

“We have made a deliberate and conscious choice to prioritize student outcomes and direct instructional resources above all else. By safeguarding classroom instruction, protecting academic intervention programs, and equipping our educators with modern teaching materials, we have proven that fiscal discipline and uncompromising academic excellence can, and must, go hand in hand,” he added.

As the district has excelled, Trautmann Middle School topped out the middle schools with a 92, and Kazen Elementary and San Isidro Elementary tied for the first spot with a 94 among elementary schools.

UISD educators were also quick to highlight the success of the students. Sebastian Perez, the senior class president at United High School, said he was excited to know that his campus is the district’s top-rated campus - again.

“Knowing that makes me feel really good. And you can see it in the halls. There’s excellence everywhere. Whether it’s the athletes or the academic competitors or everyone in between. You can feel the excellence as you walk through those doors,” said Perez.

“The academic environment here at United is really unique. I’ve spoken to students from other schools and there’s nothing quite like United,” he added.

The A–F Accountability System shows how schools are performing in three key areas: Student Achievement, School Progress and Closing the Gaps, and the rating helps ensure that all students, regardless of background, have access to a high-quality education that prepares them for success after graduation, according to the TEA.

United ISD is the only district in Texas with an “A” rating that is educating more than 30,000 students enrolled while educating a student population that is more than 70 percent economically disadvantaged and more than 15 percent emergent bilingual to achieve this honor.

The district is also one out of only 51 A-rated districts that earned the Postsecondary Readiness Distinction for the 2025-2026 school year.

Salazar said the district will continue to excel.

“We’re going to get better. That’s going to be our goal next year. And it’s really about dissecting the data, really looking at our systems and making those gradual increases,” she said.

“I know we always focus on progress, but we need to go and be deliberate about what’s happening and how we’re going to make the systems better. I know that we have a lot of leaders and I know they’re hungry and together, with the support of Curriculum and Instruction, I know that our campuses are going to succeed,” Salazar added.

United High School celebrates earning another "A" and being the top overall campus in the district

 

New United High School Principal Gilbert Moreno celebrates at a gathering of principals where the district's 7th consecutive "A" was officially announced