Best Special Needs Schools in Horizon City, Texas (2026)

Desert Hills Elementary holds the TEA Purple Star designation for 2025 to 2027, recognition of the support we give military-connected students and their families. We are one of six elementary campuses in Clint ISD, a district of about 10,100 students in the high desert east of El Paso, and we serve Horizon City children from Pre-K through the elementary grades. Clint ISD offers free, full-day Pre-K for all four-year-olds, and families can register for it at our campus. We are a Title I school, and our PBIS behavior expectations run alongside social-emotional learning. Students can join VEX robotics, Esports starting in third grade, UIL academic competitions and student council, and all elementary students build music literacy through the district's fine arts program. Our Dads of Great Students group brings fathers into school life. Students who need special education are served through the Clint ISD Special Education Department, which plans individualized services in the least restrictive environment with an emphasis on independence and self-advocacy.

• Public elementary school (PreK-5)
• Robotics
• Military-connected family support
• Public school

IDEA Horizon Vista opened in 2020 on Horizon Crossing Street and now enrolls about 1,160 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The campus holds two schools: IDEA Horizon Vista Academy for the elementary grades and IDEA Horizon Vista College Preparatory, which starts in sixth grade. We are part of IDEA Public Schools' El Paso region, and families apply each year for open seats. In the early grades, children learn to read with Reading Mastery direct instruction alongside Wit and Wisdom and Eureka Math, while College Prep students move into Pre-AP and AP English courses. Every student receives a learning device, and our career and technical course is Programming and Software Development with a game design focus. Students play basketball, cross country, flag football, soccer and volleyball, and they can join art, music, drumline or cheerleading. Our special programs staff support students with IEPs, 504 plans, dyslexia services and emergent bilingual services, and students who receive special education take part in classes and activities in the least restrictive environment. Breakfast and lunch are free for every student.

• Public charter school (K-12)
• Dyslexia
• College preparatory
• Direct instruction reading