El Paso School Finder launches, providing information on more than 240 Public Schools

With more than 240 public schools in El Paso County, deciding where your child attends school is a big decision. With open enrollment in most districts, you have choices when it comes to making this decision. But until now, there wasn't one website that provides information about schools across districts.

El Paso School Finder aims to address this unmet need in the El Paso community – providing access to information on all free public schools in one place. Recently launched at the CREEED Education Matters Summit, El Paso School Finder allows parents to search for schools by location (using a zip code or address) or by school type.

Every school profile provides detailed information about programs and features – for example, does the school offer STEM programs, is after-school care offered or do they provide any type of transportation? It also provides student performance data that is publicly available and reported each year by the Texas Education Agency.

"El Paso School Finder has been a key project in the works for several years and I could not be prouder to launch this valuable resource to our entire community," said Eddie Rodriguez, CREEED executive director. "We heard first-hand from parents that they wanted information on schools, and now we are empowering them with the ability to search, compare and find the right school for their child."

A key feature of the website is the ability to compare individual schools based on pre-selected criteria. When comparing schools, details such as total student enrollment, on-site after school programs and student performance data are displayed side by side.

Each school profile contains academic performance data that is updated annually. These results indicate the percentage of students who passed the relevant State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exams at or above the "meets" level, which shows whether a student is meeting expectations for their grade and is academically prepared to move on to the next grade. This information is publicly available but often hard to track down and compare, which is why El Paso School Finder provides this data in an easy-to-view format.

In order to build this extensive database, CREEED worked directly with the region's school districts to gather data from more than 240 public schools, compiling information in one easy-to-use format. Schools also have the opportunity to update their school profiles to ensure their information is highlighting the correct features and programs they offer. Schools are encouraged to review and update their profile on a regular basis to ensure parents have the information needed to make the right choice for their children.