High-performing Houston schools: Creativity and academic achievement flourish at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts

At KPRC 2, we’re proud to showcase the schools and educators providing students with outstanding education in the area we serve. Here, we will profile some of the highest-performing schools in the Houston area to get a glimpse at what makes them so successful.

Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts

Grades: 9-12 | Address: 790 Austin St, Houston, TX 77002 | Phone: (713) 942-1960

Established in 1971, HSPVA was the first public high school in the nation to combine an academic education with rigorous training in the arts, according to the school.

HSPVA has six arts areas: creative writing, dance, instrumental, theater, visual arts and vocal music. Students spend three hours everyday studying in their art discipline. The rest of the day is set aside for academics. All students must audition for placement at the school and are accepted into a single area of focus. HSPVA offers the same academic curriculum and graduation requirements as all other HISD schools.

In 2019, the school moved from its longtime location at 4001 Stanford Street to a new, 168,000-square-foot campus at 790 Austin Street in downtown Houston. After the move, the school changed its name to Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

The school’s honors

• U.S. News & World Report ranks Kinder HSPVA the 22nd best high school in Texas and the fifth best in the Houston area.
• In 2019, nonprofit Children at Risk ranked Kinder HSPVA the eleventh-best high school in the Houston area.
• The school has a 100 percent graduation rate.
• The TEA awarded the school with six of seven possible distinction designations for outstanding performance during the 2018-2019 school year. Kinder HSPVA received designations for the categories comparative academic growth, postsecondary readiness, and academic achievement in science, social studies, and math.
• The school is one of the most recognized high schools for presidential scholars in the arts in the nation.
• HSPVA was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School in 2019.

By the numbers

Total enrollment: 752

Economically disadvantaged students: 17.8%

English learners: 0.1%

Students Receiving Special Education Services: 0.8%

Ethnic Distribution among students: African American (17.3%), Hispanic (26.3%), White (43.9%), American Indian (0.5%), Asian (8.4%), Pacific Islander (0.1%), Two or more races (3.5%)

Student-teacher ratio: 16.6 to 1

Number of teachers: 45.2

Average teacher experience: 14.6 years

Average teacher salary:$57,614

2019 average SAT score: 1228

2019 average ACT score: 28.3

TEA School Report Card

With an overall score of 95, Kinder HSPVA earned an A for exemplary performance during the 2018-2019 school year.

The comprehensive score measures how well the school served its students, encouraged high academic achievement and growth and prepared students for success in college, a career or the military.

The TEA assesses the school’s performance in three different domains to determine its overall score: student achievement, school progress, and closing the gaps.

Student achievement gauges how much students learn and what they’re capable of by the end of the year. School progress determines how students at a given school perform over time and how that growth compares to similar schools. And the closing the gaps measures the percentage of different groups of students that performed above state goals.

Here’s how Kinder HSPVA fared in these three categories:

Student Achievement: 98

School Progress: 94

Closing the Gaps: 89

For more information about Kinder HSPVA, click here to view the performance report.