Ed 
One C, One F, and the Cheaper Zip Code Has the Higher Score
St. Elmo Elementary earned a C (74/100) on the 2025 TEA accountability rating. Wooten Elementary earned an F (49/100) (TEA via Texas Tribune Schools Explorer). Both campuses sit inside Austin ISD, both serve high percentages of economically disadvantaged students and English Learners, and both have been part of conversations about Austin’s shifting attendance zones for years.
Here is the part that surprises people. The median single-family closed price near St. Elmo over the last twelve months is $500,000 (n=79). Near Wooten it is $430,000 (n=51) (VOW MLS data, 12-month closed SFR by attendance zone). So the C-rated campus is actually in the pricier zone, and the F-rated campus is the cheaper one. That’s the opposite of what most buyers assume when they hear “south Austin gentrification” vs “north central Austin gentrification.” The market is voting on a lot more than test scores right.
If you’re a buyer weighing south Austin against the Wooten neighborhood off Lamar and Anderson, the gap between these two campuses is real, and it deserves to be in the conversation. Lets walk through it.
St. Elmo vs Wooten: Quick Comparison
| St. Elmo Elementary | Wooten Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| TEA Rating (2025) | C (74/100) | F (49/100) |
| Enrollment | 305 students | 272 students |
| Grades | PK through 5 | EE through 5 |
| District | Austin ISD | Austin ISD |
| Median Closed SFR (12mo) | $500,000 (n=79) | $430,000 (n=51) |
| Feeds Into | Bedichek MS, then Crockett ECHS / Travis ECHS / Austin HS area options | Burnet MS, then Navarro ECHS |
TEA 2025 Performance: Three Domains, Two Very Different Stories
The Texas Education Agency rates Texas campuses on three domains: Student Achievement, School Progress, and Closing the Gaps. The higher of Student Achievement and School Progress is weighted at 70%, Closing the Gaps at 30%. Here is how both schools landed in 2025.
| Performance Metric | St. Elmo Elementary | Wooten Elementary |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating | C (74/100) | F (49/100) |
| Student Achievement | F (57/100) | F (50/100) |
| School Progress | C (75/100) | F (52/100) |
| Closing the Gaps | C (72/100) | F (43/100) |
| Enrollment | 305 students (PK through 5) | 272 students (EE through 5) |
| Economically Disadvantaged | 80.7% | 91.2% |
| English Learners | 64.3% | 71.7% |
| TEA Distinctions (ES eligible for 6) | Eligible (C-rated). See campus page for current designations. | Not eligible (F-rated campuses do not receive distinctions) |
The most important number on that table is the School Progress domain. St. Elmo earned a 75. Wooten earned a 52. That domain is essentially the question “did kids actually grow this year, regardless of their starting point?” St. Elmo answered yes. Wooten did not. And because School Progress is the higher of the two academic legs at St. Elmo, that 75 is what gets weighted at 70% in the overall rollup, which is exactly why St. Elmo lands at a C instead of falling into F territory like Wooten.
The Closing the Gaps spread is the second big tell. St. Elmo at 72 vs Wooten at 43. Both schools serve very similar student populations on paper. One is moving the needle for those groups, the other is not.
For the full TEA breakdown on each campus, including rating history and current distinction designations, see the St. Elmo Elementary school page or the Wooten Elementary school page.
St. Elmo: A Small South Austin Campus That’s Actually Growing
St. Elmo enrolls about 305 students in PK through 5, tucked into the St. Elmo Road and South Congress corridor of south Austin. It’s small, which matters for a campus serving a high English Learner population, because small means relationships and continuity. The 2025 numbers tell a coherent story: the school is not yet hitting top-line achievement benchmarks (that F in Student Achievement is the honest reality), but the growth and the gap-closing work are happening. A C with a 75 in School Progress on a campus where 80.7% of students are economically disadvantaged and 64.3% are English Learners is genuinely good teaching.
St. Elmo feeds Bedichek Middle School next, and then into one of the south Austin high school options depending on the specific block (Crockett Early College HS and Travis Early College HS are both in the area). The path is not as clean as some suburban feeders, but it is well established.
Wooten: An F, and It’s Been Sliding
Wooten enrolls 272 students just off North Lamar near Anderson Lane. The 2025 score (49) is not a one-off — Wooten is one of multiple AISD campuses that received a third consecutive unacceptable rating and must develop a turnaround plan (KVUE, 2025). The campus rated F in 2023 (55), D in 2024 (63), and F again now. The trajectory matters. Wooten’s overall came in below 50 with F’s in all three domains, and that 43 in Closing the Gaps is what makes this hard to spin. The school serves 91.2% economically disadvantaged students and 71.7% English Learners, and right now it’s not meeting the bar on serving those exact groups.
Wooten feeds Burnet Middle School and then Navarro Early College High School. That’s worth knowing. A lot of buyers in the Wooten neighborhood assume the high school pathway is McCallum because McCallum is the cultural anchor of that part of town, but the AISD attendance boundary for Wooten lands at Navarro ECHS, not McCallum. Navarro is a good early-college school with real college-credit pathways, just a different identity than McCallum.
The Neighborhoods
St. Elmo draws from the south Austin pocket south of Ben White, around South Congress, St. Elmo Road, and the new mixed-use developments going in along that corridor. Older single-story homes on bigger lots are getting renovated or replaced, and the $500K median (n=79) reflects a real mix: bungalows, newer infill, the occasional townhome project. The St. Elmo / Yard / Music Lane redevelopment is right there, which is part of why the zone has held value.
Wooten’s zone runs north of 183 between Lamar and Burnet, into the older Wooten and Allandale-adjacent streets. The $430K median (n=51) reflects a different mix: smaller ranch homes from the 60s and 70s, some renovated, some not, and a lot of them at the smaller end of the lot-size scale. The neighborhood is popular for proximity to the Domain and North Burnet, and the price gap to the parts of north Austin that feed McCallum is part of the appeal. So you can do the math on why buyers end up here. It’s just useful to know what the school zone actually says when you do.
Browse all homes zoned to St. Elmo Elementary or homes zoned to Wooten Elementary.
Which School Fits You?
You might lean toward St. Elmo if:
- A C-rated campus with a 75 in School Progress reads as a school that is actively improving, which it is
- The Closing the Gaps score of 72 matters to you given the student population it serves
- South Austin proximity to South Congress, the airport, and downtown lines up with your commute
- You like a smaller campus footprint (305 students, PK through 5)
You might lean toward Wooten if:
- The Wooten / Allandale-adjacent location near the Domain and North Burnet is your priority
- You’re comfortable with the Burnet MS to Navarro ECHS pathway (not the McCallum pathway many buyers assume)
- The $70K lower median entry point on a single-family home matters to your budget
Honest read: on the school numbers alone, St. Elmo is the stronger campus by a wide margin in 2025, and it’s not particularly close. If schools are part of your decision at all, that has to be on the table. The Wooten neighborhood has real appeal for non-school reasons (location, proximity to the Domain, that section of town’s general trajectory), and the price gap is real. Just go in with the right feeder pattern in your head: Burnet MS, Navarro ECHS. Not McCallum.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Austin school zones and home prices do not always line up the way buyers expect, and the St. Elmo vs Wooten story is a clean example. I’ve been working Austin for 17+ years, and lets talk through how the school data, the feeder pattern, and the price per square foot all fit together for your specific situation.
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