On Aug. 1, 2008, North East ISD received notification from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that the district has 19 campuses rated as Exemplary for 2007-2008, the most Exemplary schools for a single district in Bexar County for the fourth year in a row.

The district was designated as Recognized, making it the third largest district in the state to receive this rating. In addition to its Exemplary campuses, NEISD had 28 schools rated as Recognized and 15 schools rated as Academically Acceptable. No campuses in the district received a rating of Academically Unacceptable.

"We more than doubled the number of Exemplary Schools in our district from the previous year," said Chief Instructional Officer/Associate Superintendent Dr. Alicia H. Thomas. "Teachers, students, principals and parents all worked hard to improve the schools’ ratings and the district's rating. Their effort paid off with 76 percent of our campuses being either Exemplary or Recognized."

Those schools earning the Exemplary rating include Bulverde Creek, Canyon Ridge, Castle Hills, Coker, Encino Park, Hardy Oak, Hidden Forest, Northwood, Huebner, Roan Forest, Stone Oak, Thousand Oaks, Wetmore, Wilderness Oak and Woodstone elementary schools; Bush, Lopez and Tejeda middle schools; and the International School of the Americas (high school). Out of 42 elementary campuses, 38 schools (or 90.5 percent) were rated Exemplary or Recognized. The one campus rated Academically Unacceptable in 2007, West Avenue Elementary, raised its rating to Recognized for 2008.

Several of the state performance standards increased for 2007-2008, making it more difficult to obtain a Recognized or Exemplary rating. For 2008-2009, the district will once again work closely with school administrators to meet its instructional goal for all schools to be rated Recognized or Exemplary.