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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at BEN MILAM EL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
389
Elementary
DISTRICT 423 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARLINGEN CISD·NCES 482253002277
Ben Milam Elementary School
1215 RANGERVILLE RD, HARLINGEN, TX 78550 · (956) 427-3150 · Cameron County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL389 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 71% of Texas public elementary schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- AThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Texas public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
17.1:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.6:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
97%
378 students
DISTRICT 80% · 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 | 81 | 21% |
| Kindergarten | 39 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 52 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 58 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 44 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 55 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 60 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (39) is 35% smaller than its 5th grade class (60).
Student demographics
8%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 10% · 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
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
57.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +43.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
55.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +42.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 55 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 43 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 42 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 28.0% | 29.0% | 23.0% | 20.0% |
| Mathematics | 25.0% | 30.0% | 16.0% | 29.0% |
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 | 57.0% | 55.0% |
| 2024-25 | 52.0% | 45.0% |
| 2023-24 | 45.0% | 44.0% |
| 2022-23 | 32.0% | 36.0% |
| 2021-22 | 32.0% | 32.0% |
| 2020-21 | 14.0% | 13.0% |
% 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
42.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.2%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 42% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 32% 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 Ben Milam Elementary School
Ben Milam Elementary School's state test result (42.4% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Milam Elementary School this school | 389 | 97.2% | 42.4% |
| Salinas Elementary School MISSION | 366 | 97.5% | 49.6% |
| Cooley Elementary School EL PASO | 393 | 96.7% | 28.1% |
| Martinez R Elementary School HOUSTON | 380 | 96.8% | 40.4% |
| El Jardin Elementary School BROWNSVILLE | 389 | 97.4% | 44.0% |
| De Zavala Elementary School SAN ANTONIO | 388 | 97.9% | 22.0% |
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 Ben Milam Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Cameron County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 42.4% | #2,291 of 4,401 | #54 of 93 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 55.0% | #1,316 of 4,466 ▲ 817 | #34 of 93 ▲ 28 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 57.0% | #1,736 of 4,466 ▲ 503 | #43 of 93 ▲ 14 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +22.0pp | #403 of 3,998 | #6 of 93 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 389 | #3,570 of 4,938 | #65 of 95 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.1:1 | #3,909 of 4,622 | #81 of 93 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 8.4% | #4,172 of 4,628 | #26 of 93 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.2% | #263 of 4,789 | #14 of 94 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -9.5% | #2,060 of 2,838 | #53 of 64 |
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
389
-14 (-3%) vs 2020
-25% since 1990-91, when it was 520
Student : Teacher
17.1:1
was 14.9:1
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 | 389 | 22.8 | 17.1:1 | 97% (378) |
| 2023-24 | 370 | 27.7 | 13.4:1 | 99% (366) |
| 2022-23 | 405 | 27.3 | 14.8:1 | 92% (371) |
| 2020-21 | 403 | 27 | 14.9:1 | 91% (365) |
| 2017-18 | 430 | 28.7 | 15.0:1 | 90% (386) |
| 2015-16 | 414 | 30 | 13.8:1 | 91% (375) |
| 2010-11 | 499 | 33 | 15.1:1 | 93% (465) |
| 2000-01 | 503 | 28 | 18.0:1 | 95% (480) |
| 1990-91 | 520 | 25 | 20.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ben Milam Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 10% (430 to 389); teachers down 21% (28.7 to 22.8).
About Ben Milam Elementary School
Ben Milam Elementary School is a low-enrollment elementary school in Texas, located in HARLINGEN. It has an enrollment of 389 students in pre-K through 5. Across elementary schools in Texas, the average enrollment is about 519.
HARLINGEN CISD has 31 schools and 17,506 students, and Ben Milam Elementary School is one of those schools.
The share of Hispanic students at Ben Milam Elementary School is 96%. The next largest groups are 4% White. A diversity index of 8% means there is an 8% chance two randomly chosen students at Ben Milam Elementary School are from different groups.
Ben Milam Elementary School lists 22.8 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 17.1 students per teacher. The school's 17.1:1 compares with an average of 15.1:1 for elementary schools in Texas. Free or reduced-price lunch covers 97% of the student body. The rate at public schools in Cameron County averages 84%, lower than here.
Ben Milam Elementary School holds a B+ allk12 Grade, placing it above 71% of Texas public elementary schools.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Ben Milam Elementary School is +10.2 points: 42.4% actual, 32.2% predicted.
In Cameron County, where the school is located, the median household earns about $52,601 a year, roughly 22% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 21% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Ben Milam Elementary School, Cameron County has 187 public schools.
About 1.2 miles separate Ben Milam Elementary School from the closest public school, Harlingen H S - South. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Ben Milam Elementary School at 3rd of 8.
The school's locale code, City: Small, means it is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
In 2020-21, Ben Milam Elementary School enrolled 403 students. By 2024-25, that number had fallen to 389. The student-to-teacher ratio increased from 14.9:1 in 2020-21 to 17.1:1 in 2024-25.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on athletics, class schedules, and weather closures here. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Cameron County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
426,120
Census ACS
Median income
$52,601
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
21%
Below federal line
Schools in county
187
97,392 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in HARLINGEN CISD
- Harlingen High SchoolHigh · 2,433 students
- Harlingen H S - SouthHigh · 2,019 students
- Dr Abraham P Cano Freshman AcademyCombined · 1,035 students
- Moises Vela Middle SchoolMiddle · 761 students
- Treasure Hills Elementary SchoolElementary · 758 students
- Gutierrez Middle SchoolMiddle · 747 students
Other schools in HARLINGEN
- Harlingen High SchoolHigh · 2,433 students
- Harlingen H S - SouthHigh · 2,019 students
- Dr Abraham P Cano Freshman AcademyCombined · 1,035 students
- Moises Vela Middle SchoolMiddle · 761 students
- Treasure Hills Elementary SchoolElementary · 758 students
- Gutierrez Middle SchoolMiddle · 747 students
Other Ben Milam Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 1 state are named Ben Milam Elementary. Ben Milam Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 3.
- Ben Milam Elementary SchoolCAMERON, TX · 396 students
- Ben Milam Elementary SchoolDALLAS, TX · 298 students
Nearby schools
- Harlingen H S - South1.2 mi · 2,019
- Lamar Elementary School1.3 mi · 401
- Houston Elementary School1.4 mi · 420
- Bowie Elementary School1.4 mi · 335
- Coakley Middle School1.5 mi · 687
- Jefferson Elementary School1.7 mi · 259
Frequently asked questions
About Ben Milam Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Ben Milam Elementary School?
Ben Milam Elementary School enrolls approximately 389 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Ben Milam Elementary School serve?
Ben Milam Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does Ben Milam Elementary School have?
Ben Milam Elementary School employs 23 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Ben Milam Elementary School?
Student demographics at Ben Milam Elementary School are roughly 4% White, 96% Hispanic, 0% Two or more.
What district is Ben Milam Elementary School in?
Ben Milam Elementary School is part of HARLINGEN CISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.