Grapeland High School Earns A After 17-Point Leap

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND — Grapeland High School has given the community an especially encouraging reason to celebrate after its state accountability score jumped 17 points and moved from a C to an A.

The high school received an overall score of 90 in the Texas Education Agency’s 2026 accountability ratings, up from 73 last year.

Across Grapeland ISD, the district received an overall score of 76, or C. Grapeland Elementary received a 69, or D; Grapeland Junior High received a 77, or C; and Grapeland High School received a 90, or A.

Each campus receives its own report card, while the district rating reflects performance across the district as a whole. The high school’s improvement was the most notable change in this year’s results.

John Sherrill, who began serving as Grapeland High School principal in July 2025, said school officials knew the campus had made progress but were delighted when the final rating was released.

“We knew that we had growth throughout the 2025-26 school year,” Sherrill said. “Our initial projections had us potentially sitting at a high B. But when the scores came out late last week, we actually hit a 90. So we hit an A.”

The results were released Aug. 14 by the Texas Education Agency.

Grapeland High School’s progress was evident across every major accountability category. The campus received a B in Student Achievement with a score of 86, an A in School Progress with a score of 93, a B in Academic Growth with a score of 80, an A in Relative Performance with a score of 93 and a B in Closing the Gaps with a score of 84.

The state’s accountability system considers Student Achievement, School Progress and Closing the Gaps when calculating an overall rating. The higher score between Student Achievement and School Progress makes up 70% of the overall calculation, while Closing the Gaps accounts for the remaining 30%.

For Grapeland High School, School Progress was the higher measure at 93, while Closing the Gaps was 84. Together, those figures produced the campus’ overall score of 90.

Sherrill said the accomplishment belongs to the entire campus community.

“Our teachers and kids, our instructional coaches, they deserve all the credit,” he said. “They have done a remarkable, remarkable job.”

After arriving at Grapeland, Sherrill said he encouraged the campus to recognize progress and build a positive culture around student achievement.

“When I first got here, I told the campus, ‘We are going to celebrate the wins. We’re going to build a culture that expects to win,’” he said.

That approach included celebrating students for accomplishments such as regular attendance, making the A and B honor rolls and maintaining perfect attendance.

The campus also focused on strengthening instruction and making sure students were building skills that would help them succeed beyond high school.

Sherrill said teachers worked to align lesson plans, use more rigorous questioning strategies and engage students in what educators call “productive struggle.” The goal was to encourage students to think critically and work through challenging material.

The campus motto, he said, is “Above all, student success.”

“We could get students to pass the test, but school accountability is about so much more than just passing the test,” Sherrill said. “It’s, did the students grow year over year? And that’s where we saw the largest gains.”

In addition to the A rating, Grapeland High School earned four of the state’s seven possible distinction designations. Those designations compare campuses with schools of similar size or similar socioeconomic characteristics.

Sherrill said Grapeland High School had never previously received a distinction designation.

“We’re really proud of the work that we’ve done over the course of last year,” he said.

The school’s success also reflects the support Grapeland High School receives from families, churches and other community members.

During his second year in Grapeland, Sherrill said he has come to better understand the local saying, “Sandie pride never dies.”

That pride can be seen in athletics, he said, but also in the encouragement provided to students and staff throughout the school year.

“They’ve been so supportive with regard to what we’re trying to do with student morale and staff morale,” Sherrill said. “The churches — I have to give a huge shoutout because they feed us a lot of the time, and we’re so thankful for everything that they do.”

With the work of the past school year providing a strong foundation, Sherrill said Grapeland High School will continue setting high expectations.

“Now the foundation’s set, so we’re going to raise the bar even higher this year,” he said.

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]