BEST EL

BEST EL operates as a medium-sized elementary-level community in HOUSTON, Texas, part of ALIEF ISD. Current enrollment sits at 655 students spanning grades K through 4. That puts it 26% bigger than the typical public school in Texas, which averages around 519 students.

BEST EL is one of 46 schools operated by ALIEF ISD, a district that instructs 38,610 students overall.

On the student-mix side, BEST EL logs that nearly all students (86%) are Hispanic. The remainder is composed of 10% Black, 2% White. That is noticeably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 44%.

Looking at school resources, On paper, BEST EL has 48 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.1:1, putting BEST EL tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 93% of students at BEST EL qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Harris County (around 70%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

With demographic context factored in, BEST EL sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 33.3%; this one delivers 23.0%.

In the broader community, census data for Harris County shows median household earnings sit near $74,983, roughly 34% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 13%. BEST EL is one of 1205 public schools in Harris County (combined enrollment of about 886,911 students).

Nearest neighbor: ETOILE ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL-BISSONNET, around 0.3 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around BEST EL. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), BEST EL ranks 7th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 53.5%.

The campus sits in a high-density setting.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at BEST EL has ticked down 23%, going from 854 students in 2018 to 655 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment increased from 69% to 86% over that span.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.