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What's one thing BELL EL gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
539
Elementary
DISTRICT 515 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HOUSTON ISD·NCES 482364002396
Bell Elementary School
12323 SHAFTSBURY DR, HOUSTON, TX 77031 · (281) 983-2800 · Harris County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL539 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.5:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
88%
472 students
DISTRICT 84% · 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, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 80 | 15% |
| Kindergarten | 77 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 73 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 75 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 87 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 75 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 72 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (77) is 7% larger than its 5th grade class (72).
Student demographics
40%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 56% · STATE 63% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Bell Elementary School→Welch Middle School
Based on published attendance-zone data from HOUSTON ISD. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
52.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +33.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
47.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +33.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 52 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 47 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 33 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 33 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 28.0% | 24.0% | 22.0% | 26.0% |
| Mathematics | 23.0% | 24.0% | 26.0% | 27.0% |
Share of tested students at each STAAR level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
STAAR results by year
| School year | Reading | Mathematics |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 52.0% | 47.0% |
| 2024-25 | 44.0% | 40.0% |
| 2023-24 | 35.0% | 39.0% |
| 2022-23 | 29.0% | 41.0% |
| 2021-22 | 43.0% | 39.0% |
| 2020-21 | 19.0% | 14.0% |
% Meets Grade Level or Above, all students and all tested grades.
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
34.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.3%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% 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 →
Schools most like Bell Elementary School
Bell Elementary School's state test result (34.9% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bell Elementary School this school | 539 | 87.6% | 34.9% |
| Stephanie Cravens Early Childhood HOUSTON | 556 | 86.5% | N/A |
| Handley STEM Elementary School GARLAND | 563 | 88.1% | 34.7% |
| Joan Link Elementary School HOUSTON | 556 | 86.3% | 24.7% |
| Kujawa Elementary School HOUSTON | 562 | 85.2% | 28.9% |
| Foster Elementary School ARLINGTON | 524 | 84.7% | 33.5% |
Matched among Texas elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Bell Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Harris County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 34.9% | #3,168 of 4,401 | #449 of 624 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 47.0% | #2,058 of 4,466 ▲ 661 | #283 of 625 ▲ 99 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 52.0% | #2,264 of 4,466 ▲ 850 | #291 of 625 ▲ 135 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +14.5pp | #930 of 3,998 | #125 of 603 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 539 | #2,141 of 4,938 | #426 of 682 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.2:1 | #1,692 of 4,622 | #238 of 657 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 39.9% | #3,055 of 4,628 | #430 of 657 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 87.6% | #1,334 of 4,789 | #318 of 671 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -26.6% | #675 of 2,838 | #135 of 441 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
539
-74 (-12%) vs 2020
-16% since 1990-91, when it was 641
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
was 15.3:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 539 | 38 | 14.2:1 | 88% (472) |
| 2023-24 | 564 | 35.9 | 15.7:1 | 93% (526) |
| 2022-23 | 548 | 33.9 | 16.2:1 | 93% (510) |
| 2020-21 | 613 | 40 | 15.3:1 | 88% (542) |
| 2017-18 | 734 | 45 | 16.3:1 | 88% (648) |
| 2015-16 | 779 | 50 | 15.6:1 | 88% (682) |
| 2010-11 | 778 | 51 | 15.3:1 | 56% (439) |
| 2000-01 | 1,004 | 54 | 18.6:1 | 65% (648) |
| 1990-91 | 641 | 63 | 10.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bell Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 27% (734 to 539); teachers down 16% (45 to 38).
About Bell Elementary School
Bell Elementary School is the name of a mid-sized elementary school in HOUSTON, Texas. It has an enrollment of 539 students in pre-K through 5.
Bell Elementary School is one of the 273 schools that make up HOUSTON ISD (176,727 students in total).
The student body at Bell Elementary School is 75% Hispanic. Other students are 20% Black and 2% White. By comparison, Harris County residents are about 44% Hispanic. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 40%.
Based on 38 full-time-equivalent teachers, Bell Elementary School has a ratio of 14.2:1. The gap from the 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas is 0.9 students per teacher. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch stands at 88%. That is 18 points above the 70% average for public schools in Harris County.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 34.9%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 36.3%.
The school's county is Harris County. According to Census Bureau estimates, median household income comes to about $74,983, 34% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 13% of people live in poverty. There are 1,205 public schools in the county, enrolling about 886,911, Bell Elementary School among them.
Bell Elementary School's closest public school neighbor is Gross Elementary School, about 1.3 miles away. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Local comparison: Bell Elementary School ranks 6th of 7 nearby schools, at 34.9% versus a 40.5% average.
The NCES locale for Bell Elementary School is City: Large, which covers schools inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Over 4 years, enrollment fell by 74 students, from 613 to 539. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio dropped to 14.2:1, from 15.3:1.
Anyone can start a thread about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Bell Elementary School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Harris County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
4,838,303
Census ACS
Median income
$74,983
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
1,205
886,911 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in HOUSTON ISD
- Texas Connections Academy at HoustonCombined · 8,641 students
- Bellaire High SchoolHigh · 3,216 students
- Lamar High SchoolHigh · 2,968 students
- Westside High SchoolHigh · 2,729 students
- Heights High SchoolHigh · 2,426 students
- Houston Math Science and Technology CenterHigh · 2,396 students
Other schools in HOUSTON
- Texas Connections Academy at HoustonCombined · 8,641 students
- North Shore Senior HighHigh · 4,284 students
- Elsik High SchoolHigh · 4,057 students
- Summer Creek High SchoolHigh · 3,972 students
- Hastings High SchoolHigh · 3,786 students
- C E King High SchoolHigh · 3,716 students
Other Bell Elementary schools
9 other US public schools in 9 states are named Bell Elementary. Bell Elementary School is the 4th largest of the 10.
- Bell Elementary SchoolTYLER, TX · 540 students
- Bell Elementary SchoolChicago, IL · 902 students
- BELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLBELL, FL · 656 students
- BELL ELEMENTARYPAPILLION, NE · 488 students
- Bell Elementary SchoolMonticello, KY · 432 students
Nearby schools
- Gross Elementary School1.3 mi · 390
- YES Prep - Brays Oaks1.3 mi · 1,051
- Welch Middle School1.4 mi · 547
- Step Charter III1.5 mi · 76
- Texans Can Academy - Houston Southwest1.6 mi · 410
- Step Charter Elementary School1.6 mi · 293
Frequently asked questions
About Bell Elementary SchoolHow large is Bell Elementary School?
Bell Elementary School enrolls approximately 539 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Bell Elementary School serve?
Bell Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does Bell Elementary School have?
Bell Elementary School employs 38 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.2:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Bell Elementary School?
At Bell Elementary School, the student body is approximately 2% White, 75% Hispanic, 20% Black, 1% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Is Bell Elementary School public or private?
Bell Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by HOUSTON ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.