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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
598
Elementary
DISTRICT 526 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD·NCES 483486004738
ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL
2900 N R LONGORIA, SAN JUAN, TX 78589 · (956) 354-2850 · Hidalgo County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL598 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.0:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.3:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
91%
547 students
DISTRICT 94% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
STAAR 2023-24 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
48.0%
TX avg 51.8% . +9.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
42.0%
TX avg 42.0% . -1.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 48 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 42 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 52 and 42. Reading scores are up about 9 points since 2020, while math scores are down about 1 points.
Source: STAAR. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
41.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.9%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 34% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Texas's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
598
-75 (-11%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
17.0:1
was 17.4:1
% White
0%
was 1%
% Hispanic
99%
was 99%
% Black
0%
was 0%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL
ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL, a mid-tier elementary campus in SAN JUAN, Texas, run under PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD, works with 598 students, covering grades pre-K through 5.
PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD runs 44 schools in total, collectively educating 29,749 students. ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL is one of those campuses.
On demographics, ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL logs that nearly all students (99%) are Hispanic.
Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL has 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 17.0:1. The state averages around 15.1:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 91% of students at ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.
With demographic context factored in, ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 33.9%, the actual is 41.0%, a residual of +7.1 points.
Around the school, census data for Hidalgo County shows the typical household earns roughly $54,338 per year, 21% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 23% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Hidalgo County runs 364 public schools (combined enrollment of about 212,859 students), of which ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL is one.
The closest other public school is DRS REED - MOCK EL, roughly 0.2 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL comes 6th of 9 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 42.7%.
The school occupies a bedroom-community site.
Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL has shrank 11%, going from 673 students in 2018 to 598 in 2025.
On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.
Hidalgo County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
891,977
Census ACS
Median income
$54,338
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
23%
Below federal line
Schools in county
364
212,859 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD
- PSJA EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 2,300 students
- PSJA NORTH EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 2,166 students
- PSJA MEMORIAL EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 1,997 students
- PSJA SOUTHWEST EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 1,588 students
- LYNDON B JOHNSON MIDDLEMiddle · 1,006 students
- AUSTIN MIDDLEMiddle · 833 students
Other schools in SAN JUAN
- PSJA EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 2,300 students
- AUSTIN MIDDLEMiddle · 833 students
- IDEA COLLEGE PREPARATORY SAN JUANHigh · 741 students
- R YZAGUIRRE MIDDLEMiddle · 736 students
- EDITH & ETHEL CARMAN ELElementary · 686 students
- IDEA ACADEMY SAN JUANElementary · 617 students
Nearby schools
- DRS REED - MOCK EL0.2 mi · 509
- IDEA ACADEMY SAN JUAN0.8 mi · 617
- IDEA COLLEGE PREPARATORY SAN JUAN0.8 mi · 741
- SGT LEONEL TREVINO EL0.8 mi · 401
- AMANDA GARZA-PENA EL1.1 mi · 557
- R YZAGUIRRE MIDDLE1.2 mi · 736
Frequently asked questions
About ARNOLDO CANTU SR ELWhat is the total enrollment at ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL?
ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL enrolls approximately 598 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL serve?
ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL?
The student-to-teacher ratio at ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL is approximately 17.0:1 (35 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL?
At ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL, the student body is approximately 0% White, 99% Hispanic, 0% Black.
Is ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL public or private?
ARNOLDO CANTU SR EL is a public K-12 school, overseen by PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.