Gilmer Elementary receives high Accountability Test score
Posted/updated on: August 20, 2025 at 6:36 pm
GILMER – The head of the Texas Education Agency made a stop at Gilmer ISD on Monday, happening days after the TEA released this year’s report card for schools across the state, according to a report from our news partner, KETK.
Gilmer Elementary is celebrating their success in the classroom after the school saw a 7-point jump this year. In this year’s TEA ratings, the school raised from 83 to 90, scoring them an A.
Overall, the district scored a B in this year’s TEA ratings. Gilmer Elementary School principal Gina Treadway said the better grade is in part thanks to a new math and phonics program but that the students and teachers are who are really to thank.
“I feel just a sense of pride for my staff, my teachers and my students. They played a big role in this but I have to say, it really takes all the way from kindergarten up and I’ll even say our early childhood campus,” Treadway said. “You have to have strong systems to expectations from an early level.”
During the visit to the elementary school Monday, TEA commissioner Mike Morath congratulated the campus on their hard work and sat in some classrooms.
“What you see here is you see a strong leadership team that believes that all children can learn and achieve and then operates on that belief system,” Morath said. “Leadership matters. The board, the superintendent and principal. You can create an environment of high expectations.”
U.S. Congressman Nathaniel Moran also toured the campus and felt the excitement in the air.
“As we walked through the classrooms here at the elementary school, students were engaged, teachers were prepared. Everybody was excited,” Moran said. “It’s not just about the first week of school, what it’s really about is about students wanting to engage in learning that is fun and creative.”
Statewide, 757 campuses moved up to an ‘A’ from a B or lower in 2025. Commissioner Morath believes it’s thanks to the engagement teachers are having in the classroom.
“Teachers can not just talk because they have to make sure that all 20, all 30 students in that room master’s the day’s lessons,” Morath said. “That is not something you are just born knowing how to do.”
