Enrollment
361
Elementary
DISTRICT 435 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MISSION CISD·NCES 483104001509
Carl C Waitz Elementary School
842 W SAINT FRANCIS AVE, ALTON, TX 78573 · (956) 323-6600 · Hidalgo County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL361 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 38% of Texas public elementary schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- B+Three-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
14.4:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.9:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
352 students
DISTRICT 87% · STATE 65%
Community
0
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 | 68 | 19% |
| Kindergarten | 51 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 47 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 37 | 10% |
| Grade 3 | 41 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 64 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 53 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (51) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (53).
Student demographics
2%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 5% · 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
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
42.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +25.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
35.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +30.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 35 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 25 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 30 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 22.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 33.0% |
| Mathematics | 12.0% | 23.0% | 29.0% | 36.0% |
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 | 42.0% | 35.0% |
| 2024-25 | 43.0% | 36.0% |
| 2023-24 | 38.0% | 30.0% |
| 2022-23 | 24.0% | 28.0% |
| 2021-22 | 19.0% | 21.0% |
| 2020-21 | 17.0% | 5.0% |
% 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
32.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.0%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 33% 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 Carl C Waitz Elementary School
Carl C Waitz Elementary School's state test result (32.8% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carl C Waitz Elementary School this school | 361 | 97.5% | 32.8% |
| J Kawas Elementary School LAREDO | 363 | 97.2% | 68.7% |
| Progreso Early Childhood PROGRESO | 365 | 98.1% | N/A |
| Sam Fordyce Elementary School SULLIVAN CITY | 356 | 98.6% | 53.0% |
| Garden Park Elementary School BROWNSVILLE | 372 | 98.9% | 49.9% |
| Ray H Darr Elementary School EAGLE PASS | 383 | 98.2% | 46.8% |
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 Carl C Waitz Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Hidalgo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 32.8% | #3,396 of 4,401 | #161 of 181 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.0% | #3,474 of 4,466 ▼ 297 | #165 of 183 ▼ 21 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 42.0% | #3,485 of 4,466 ▼ 260 | #155 of 183 ▼ 7 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +12.5pp | #1,139 of 3,998 | #44 of 180 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 361 | #3,799 of 4,938 | #162 of 192 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.4:1 | #1,883 of 4,622 | #39 of 185 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 2.2% | #4,459 of 4,628 | #106 of 185 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.5% | #233 of 4,789 | #22 of 190 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -37.3% | #241 of 2,838 | #8 of 128 |
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
361
-85 (-19%) vs 2020
-55% since 2000-01, when it was 803
Student : Teacher
14.4:1
was 15.9:1
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 | 361 | 25.1 | 14.4:1 | 98% (352) |
| 2023-24 | 395 | 26.1 | 15.1:1 | 97% (385) |
| 2022-23 | 396 | 25.3 | 15.6:1 | 98% (389) |
| 2020-21 | 446 | 28 | 15.9:1 | 97% (432) |
| 2017-18 | 576 | 35.7 | 16.1:1 | 92% (531) |
| 2015-16 | 612 | 33 | 18.6:1 | 92% (565) |
| 2010-11 | 607 | 35 | 17.3:1 | 0% (0) |
| 2000-01 | 803 | 51 | 15.8:1 | 0% (0) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Carl C Waitz Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 37% (576 to 361); teachers down 30% (35.7 to 25.1).
About Carl C Waitz Elementary School
Carl C Waitz Elementary School sits in ALTON, Texas, and is classified as an elementary school. The school has 361 students in 2024-25 across pre-K through 5. Elementary schools in Texas have about 519 students on average; enrollment here is 30% lower.
MISSION CISD serves 13,765 students across 22 schools.
A large majority of enrollment at Carl C Waitz Elementary School is Hispanic, at 99%. The diversity index for Carl C Waitz Elementary School is 2%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Classroom staffing at Carl C Waitz Elementary School totals 25.1 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 14.4:1. Statewide, elementary schools in Texas average 15.1:1. Federal data show 98% of students (352) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Across public schools in Hidalgo County, the average is 85%.
Among Texas public elementary schools, Carl C Waitz Elementary School outscored 38%, which works out to a C+ on the allk12 Grade.
A school with Carl C Waitz Elementary School's lunch-eligibility share in Texas is predicted to score 32.0%. Carl C Waitz Elementary School scores 32.8%, within a point of that line.
In the wider Hidalgo County area, median household income comes to about $54,338, roughly 21% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 23%. Hidalgo County counts 364 public schools with about 212,859 students.
About 0.7 miles separate Carl C Waitz Elementary School from the closest public school, Raquel Cavazos Elementary School. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Local comparison: Carl C Waitz Elementary School ranks 9th of 9 nearby schools, at 32.8% versus a 44.7% average.
NCES describes the area around Carl C Waitz Elementary School as Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school shrank from 446 students in 2020-21 to 361 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 15.9:1 to 14.4:1.
Use the discussion section to ask about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Carl C Waitz Elementary School. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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 MISSION CISD
- Mission High SchoolHigh · 2,154 students
- Veterans Memorial High SchoolHigh · 1,737 students
- White Junior High SchoolMiddle · 831 students
- Alton Memorial Junior High SchoolMiddle · 819 students
- Mission Junior High SchoolMiddle · 711 students
- Mims Elementary SchoolElementary · 673 students
Other schools in ALTON
- Alton Memorial Junior High SchoolMiddle · 819 students
- Jessie L Jensen Elementary SchoolElementary · 615 students
- Domingo Trevino Middle SchoolMiddle · 531 students
- Cantu Elementary SchoolElementary · 521 students
- Raquel Cavazos Elementary SchoolElementary · 521 students
- Mission Collegiate High SchoolHigh · 399 students
Nearby schools
- Raquel Cavazos Elementary School0.7 mi · 521
- Mission Collegiate High School0.8 mi · 399
- Alton Memorial Junior High School0.9 mi · 819
- Cantu Elementary School1.0 mi · 521
- Domingo Trevino Middle School1.2 mi · 531
- Alton Elementary School1.3 mi · 337
Frequently asked questions
About Carl C Waitz Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Carl C Waitz Elementary School?
Carl C Waitz Elementary School enrolls approximately 361 students in grades PK-05.
Is Carl C Waitz Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Carl C Waitz Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Carl C Waitz Elementary School?
Approximately 14.4:1 students per teacher at Carl C Waitz Elementary School.
How diverse is Carl C Waitz Elementary School?
Carl C Waitz Elementary School reports a student body of 1% White, 99% Hispanic.
Who oversees Carl C Waitz Elementary School?
Carl C Waitz Elementary School is overseen by MISSION CISD in Hidalgo County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.