BEN MILAM EL

BEN MILAM EL, a modestly sized elementary campus in HARLINGEN, Texas, one of the schools within HARLINGEN CISD, hosts 389 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. By comparison, Texas's public schools average about 519 students each, so BEN MILAM EL sits 25% smaller than that benchmark.

Across the 31 schools in HARLINGEN CISD (17,506 students total), BEN MILAM EL accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Demographically, BEN MILAM EL reports that 96% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority; the rest consists of 4% White.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 17.1:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 15.1:1 average. Around 97% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is above Cameron County's rate of about 84%.

After controlling for student poverty, BEN MILAM EL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 31.4%, the actual is 39.1%, a residual of +7.7 points.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Cameron County indicate the typical household earns roughly $52,601 per year, about 22% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 21%. Across Cameron County's 187 public schools (combined enrollment of about 97,392 students), BEN MILAM EL is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is HARLINGEN H S - SOUTH, roughly 1.2 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around BEN MILAM EL. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), BEN MILAM EL ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, below the local average of 39.1%.

Geographically, the school is in an inner-city area.

Over the past 7-year window. BEN MILAM EL's enrollment has ticked down 10% since 2018, when it stood at 430 (now 389). Class-load math has grew: from 15.0:1 in 2018 to 17.1:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for BEN MILAM EL typically covers enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.