Oak Springs vs Wooten Elementary: F-Rated AISD Campuses, $147K Price Gap

Two F-Rated AISD Campuses, a $147,000 Gap in Home Prices

Oak Springs Elementary scored an F with 58 out of 100 on the 2025 TEA accountability rating. Wooten Elementary scored an F with 49 out of 100. Both are Austin ISD elementary schools, both serve overwhelmingly economically disadvantaged populations, and yet the median sale price in the Oak Springs zone over the last 12 months is $577,000 while the Wooten zone is $430,000. That is a real spread, and it tells you a lot about how the Austin market is actually pricing location relative to school scores.

So lets walk through what the TEA data actually says, what the price difference actually means, and which buyers should be paying attention to which campus. I am going to be straight with you. Neither school is winning awards right now. But the real estate story underneath is more interesting than either F rating suggests.

Oak Springs vs Wooten: Quick Comparison

Median sale prices reflect single-family residential closings in each attendance zone over the trailing 12 months, pulled from the VOW database (sample sizes shown above).

TEA School Performance Comparison (2025)

The Texas Education Agency evaluates every public school annually across three accountability domains. Here is how both campuses performed in the 2025 cycle.

TEA uses three accountability domains at the elementary level (Student Achievement, School Progress, and Closing the Gaps), and elementary campuses can earn up to six distinction designations when they are rated C or higher. Neither of these campuses qualified for distinctions in 2025.

Oak Springs outscores Wooten by 9 points overall, and the gap shows up most starkly in Closing the Gaps where Oak Springs earned a D (66) versus Wooten’s F (43). That 23 point spread in one domain is significant. Oak Springs is moving the needle on its most vulnerable student groups, even though the overall picture is still failing.

Context matters with the demographics too. Wooten’s English learner population sits at 71.7%, compared to 8.8% at Oak Springs. Teaching a campus where nearly three out of four students are learning English is a fundamentally different instructional task than the one Oak Springs is taking on. For the full TEA breakdown, visit the Oak Springs Elementary page or the Wooten Elementary page.

Oak Springs: A Small Campus in East Austin’s Most Reshaped Corridor

Oak Springs Elementary is a small campus, 215 students, sitting in the part of east Austin that has been reshaped more aggressively than almost anywhere else in the city over the last decade. The blocks around Rosewood Avenue, East 12th Street, and the Manor Road corridor used to be much cheaper than they are now. They are not cheap anymore.

Buyers in this zone are paying for proximity to downtown, walkable streets, mature trees, and the East Side’s restaurant and music scene. The $577K median price reflects all of that. It does not reflect the F rating, and that is the point. School scores are not the primary lever pricing this market, and pretending otherwise is going to confuse you when you try to make sense of the comps.

The feeder pattern is worth understanding. Oak Springs students move to Kealing Middle School, which is home to one of Austin ISD’s most competitive Gifted and Talented Magnet programs. From there, the zoned high school is Eastside Early College High School, where motivated students can earn an associate’s degree along with their diploma. That is a real pathway, and it changes the long term calculus for a buyer who is planning past the elementary years.

Wooten: North Austin’s Burnet Road Adjacency

Wooten sits in north central Austin, just inside MoPac, with easy access to the Domain and the Burnet Road corridor. The housing stock is mostly 1950s and 1960s ranch homes on generous lots, with a steady wave of renovations and new builds adding to the mix. Neighborhoods in the zone include Wooten Terrace, Allandale North, Lanier Terrace, and parts of Crestview, all of which have loyal followings.

The $430K median is the lower number in this comparison, and that is partly because the zone has more original-condition ranch homes still on the market and partly because the north Austin buyer pool is a different profile than the east Austin one. It is also a real entry point. $430K in central Austin is not nothing, but it is genuinely accessible compared to most of the city right now.

The feeder pattern is where Wooten’s story gets more complicated than the elementary numbers suggest. Wooten feeds to Burnet Middle School, then to Navarro Early College High School. Navarro is an early college campus, which means students who stay in the zone through high school can graduate with significant college credit, and in some cases an associate’s degree, before they ever leave Austin ISD. That changes the calculus for a long range buyer in a way the F rating alone does not capture.

The Neighborhoods

Oak Springs draws from Rosewood, Homewood Heights, Lorraine Heights, and adjacent east Austin pockets where craftsman bungalows share streets with full teardowns and modern infill. The zone is walkable, eclectic, and still appreciating. The buyers are young professionals, creatives, and people who want urban access without paying downtown condo prices.

Wooten covers Wooten Terrace, Allandale North, Lanier Terrace, parts of Crestview, and several smaller subdivisions tucked between Burnet Road and North Lamar. Wide lots, mature live oaks, and ranch-style homes define the look. Crestview in particular has built a strong sense of identity around its local businesses and walkable feel. That is the kind of neighborhood character you cannot manufacture.

Browse all homes zoned to Oak Springs or homes zoned to Wooten.

Which School Fits You?

Both campuses are working through real academic challenges. The question is really about what you are buying around the school, and which feeder pattern fits your longer plan.

You might lean toward Oak Springs if:

• East Austin proximity to downtown is the main reason you are buying
• You want a small campus (215 students) with a community feel
• The Kealing Middle School Magnet program is appealing for the middle school years
• Oak Springs’ stronger Closing the Gaps score (D vs F) matters to you

You might lean toward Wooten if:

• You want to live in north central Austin near the Domain and Burnet Road
• A $430K median entry point makes the math work for you
• The Navarro Early College High School pathway is worth the long view

I will give you my honest take. Neither school is in a place where I would tell a buyer the elementary scores alone justify the move. But both zones sit on neighborhoods with serious long term value, and both feeder patterns end at early college high schools that genuinely open doors. If you are buying for ten years, not for three, the picture changes. If you have flexibility on private or charter for the elementary years, the picture changes even more.

Ready to Find Your Home?

I have helped buyers think through trade offs like this for over 19 years in Austin. School scores are real data. So is location value, feeder patterns, and the way a neighborhood is actually appreciating. Lets sit down and talk through what you are really optimizing for.

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