quality education

This Houston K-8 school ranks No. 1 in Texas for 2027, per U.S. News

Spring Branch Academic Institute students

Spring Branch Academic Institute is the No. 1 best K-8 school in Texas, according to U.S. News.

sbai.springbranchisd.com/

U.S. News and World Report's new list of ranking the best K-8 schools in Texas for 2027 has hailed one Houston ISD school — Spring Branch Academic Institute — the No. 1 best elementary and middle school statewide.

In all, 12 Houston-area elementary and middle schools were named among the top 25 most brilliant beacons of Texas early education in U.S. News' annual Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings.

Over 70,000 public schools were analyzed on the state and district level using publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Education. Schools were analyzed based on students' proficiency in mathematics and reading while accounting "for student background and absolute performance on state assessments." To break ties in overall scores, schools with a lower student-teacher ratio prevailed.

"By incorporating direct state data across all proficiency levels, the 2027 rankings offer a richer, more complete picture of how elementary and middle schools are driving student growth," said Eric Brooks, U.S. News director of education data analysis. "This refined approach gives families, educators and community leaders an even clearer view of academic achievement, helping them identify standard-setting schools and support continued success for all students."

Spring Branch Academic Institute made its debut this year after being unranked last year. According to its U.S. News profile, the school has a 5 to 1 student-teacher ratio, and 100 percent of students scored at or above the proficient level in both math and reading.

"Spring Branch Academic Institute did better in math and better in reading in this metric compared with students across the state," the profile said. "In Texas, 52 percent of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 42 percent tested at or above that level for math."

SBAI and T. H. Rogers School in Houston ISD were the only two local schools that ranked among the statewide top 10 elementary schools for 2027. T. H. Rogers School ranked as the No. 4 best elementary school in Texas this year, up from its previous No. 13 rank last year, and it ranked No. 5 among the best Texas middle schools.

The other Houston-area schools that appeared among the top 25 best elementary schools in Texas include:

No. 14 – Creekside Forest Elementary, Tomball ISD (down from No. 7 last year)
No. 15 – West University Elementary, Houston ISD (up from No. 28 last year)
No. 19 – Stafford STEM Magnet Academy (down from No. 16 last year)
No. 21 – Commonwealth Elementary, Fort Bend ISD (down from No. 9 last year)

Among the best middle schools in Texas, two Houston schools ranked among the top 10: Cornerstone Academy in Spring Branch ISD (No. 7), which ranked six spots higher than it did the previous year, and Houston ISD's Briarmeadow Charter School (No. 10).

Five more Houston-area middle schools ranked among Texas' top 25 for 2027:

No. 13 – Fort Settlement Middle School, Fort Bend ISD (up from No. 20 last year)
No. 15 – Stafford STEM Magnet Academy (down from No. 12 last year)
No. 18 – Seven Lakes Junior High School, Katy ISD (up from No. 19 last year)
No. 19 – Beckendorff Junior High School, Katy ISD (up from No. 31 last year)
No. 24 – Memorial Middle School, Spring Branch ISD (up from No. 40 last year)

Three local schools that previously ranked in the top 25 last year but have since dropped in the 2027 rankings are: Houston ISD's Mandarin Immerson Magnet School (No. 30, down from No. 18); Houston Gateway Academy - Coral Campus (No. 70, down from No. 21); and Smith Middle School in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD (No. 53, down from No. 22).

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UH breaks ground on $77 million research facility at medical school campus

University of Houston Medical Research Building groundbreaking

Courtesy of the University of Houston

The new building is expected to open in 2028.

The University of Houston broke ground on a brand new $77.5 million Medical Research Building last week that will host clinical trials and a virtual reality behavioral health suite, among other laboratories. Designed by SmithGroup, it will be the second building on the UH Medical Center campus after the Fertitta College of Medicine opened in 2022.

“The Medical Research Building was designed to foster collaboration and discovery while creating a welcoming environment for students, researchers and the community,” Kalman Nagy, higher education studio design leader for SmithGroup, said in a news release. “As the second building on the University of Houston’s medical campus, we wanted to create a strong connection to the College of Medicine and the surrounding woodlands, with outdoor terraces, shared learning spaces and natural views that inspire interaction and innovation.”

Located just behind the Fertitta building at 5150 Medical Service Drive, the 57,000-square-foot building will house wet laboratories, computational research spaces and specialized facilities for clinical research. The virtual reality behavioral health suite will use immersive technology to deliver care through manufactured audio and visual environments. It’s part of the college’s vision for developing new medical advancements in the heart of Houston’s medical community. The groundbreaking comes on the heels of the launch of the university's cross-disciplinary academic venture, UH Health, this summer.

“This groundbreaking marks an important next step in the growth of the Fertitta College of Medicine and UH Health,” Dr. Jonathan McCullers, vice president for health affairs at UH, added in the release. “We are building the research capacity to match our ambitions—bringing together scientists, physicians and experts from across the University to accelerate discovery and turn promising ideas into solutions that improve people’s lives.”

UH’s journey to establish a significant presence alongside the University of Texas and Baylor in the Medical Center started in 2009 when it became an official full institutional member. The university launched its plans for the Fertitta building in 2013, and is pursuing Health Science Center designation from the Texas Legislature in the next year’s session.

“The research that will take place here will directly benefit our community,” UH President Renu Khator added. “Diseases do not recognize disciplinary silos, and neither should our research. This building will bring together experts from across UH to break down those barriers, work across disciplines and tackle some of our most complex health challenges.”

The building is slated to open in 2028.

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This story was originally published on our sister site, InnovationMap.