1
What clubs or activities at CASTANEDA EL are worth joining?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
374
Elementary
DISTRICT 496 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MCALLEN ISD·NCES 482967008654
Castaneda Elementary School
4100 N 34TH, MCALLEN, TX 78504 · (956) 623-8882 · Hidalgo County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL374 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.9:1
27 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
74%
278 students
DISTRICT 75% · 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 | 48 | 13% |
| Kindergarten | 43 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 42 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 55 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 55 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 61 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 70 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (43) is 39% smaller than its 5th grade class (70).
Student demographics
12%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 12% · 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
63.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +24.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
46.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +8.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 46 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 24 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 8 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 36.0% | 27.0% | 21.0% | 16.0% |
| Mathematics | 20.0% | 26.0% | 22.0% | 32.0% |
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 | 63.0% | 46.0% |
| 2024-25 | 66.0% | 53.0% |
| 2023-24 | 66.0% | 51.0% |
| 2022-23 | 59.0% | 54.0% |
| 2021-22 | 57.0% | 47.0% |
| 2020-21 | 39.0% | 38.0% |
% 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
55.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.0%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+13.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 55% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 42% 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 Castaneda Elementary School
Castaneda Elementary School's state test result (55.4% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castaneda Elementary School this school | 374 | 74.3% | 55.4% |
| Bill Childress Elementary School VINTON | 386 | 75.6% | 42.5% |
| Cano-Gonzalez Elementary School EDINBURG | 399 | 75.9% | 44.8% |
| Garza Elementary School MCALLEN | 409 | 73.8% | 49.9% |
| Vista Hills Elementary School EL PASO | 439 | 73.6% | 66.0% |
| Downs Fine Arts Academy SAN BENITO | 426 | 72.5% | 49.9% |
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 Castaneda Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Hidalgo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 55.4% | #1,032 of 4,401 | #28 of 181 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 46.0% | #2,190 of 4,466 ▼ 799 | #112 of 183 ▼ 68 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 63.0% | #1,184 of 4,466 ▼ 187 | #32 of 183 ▼ 5 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -2.0pp | #985 of 3,998 | #46 of 180 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 374 | #3,707 of 4,938 | #157 of 192 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.9:1 | #1,418 of 4,622 | #24 of 185 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 12.3% | #4,014 of 4,628 | #13 of 185 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 74.3% | #2,304 of 4,789 | #169 of 190 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -34.8% | #308 of 2,838 | #12 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
374
-135 (-27%) vs 2020
-47% since 2010-11, when it was 708
Student : Teacher
13.9:1
was 14.5:1
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 | 374 | 27 | 13.9:1 | 74% (278) |
| 2023-24 | 441 | 31.4 | 14.1:1 | 74% (327) |
| 2022-23 | 500 | 32.1 | 15.6:1 | 69% (347) |
| 2020-21 | 509 | 35 | 14.5:1 | 70% (356) |
| 2017-18 | 574 | 34 | 16.9:1 | 73% (418) |
| 2015-16 | 560 | 33 | 17.0:1 | 73% (407) |
| 2010-11 | 708 | 44 | 16.1:1 | 0% (0) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Castaneda Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 35% (574 to 374); teachers down 21% (34 to 27).
About Castaneda Elementary School
Castaneda Elementary School is a small elementary school located in MCALLEN, Texas. The student body numbers 374 students, from pre-K through 5. An average school in this group (elementary schools in Texas) has about 519 students.
MCALLEN ISD is the local district for Castaneda Elementary School. It runs 31 schools with 19,890 students.
Hispanic students are the large majority at Castaneda Elementary School, with 94% of enrollment. The county population is about 92% Hispanic, within a few points of the school. The chance that two students picked at random at Castaneda Elementary School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 12%.
Castaneda Elementary School's 27 full-time-equivalent teachers put its ratio at 13.9:1. That ratio is under the 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 74%. The 85% average for public schools in Hidalgo County is 11 points higher.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate on state tests with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Castaneda Elementary School, the prediction is 42.0% and the result is 55.4%.
Castaneda Elementary School is located in Hidalgo County, where median household income is about $54,338, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 21%, and about 23% of people live in poverty. Castaneda Elementary School is one of 364 public schools in Hidalgo County, which together enroll about 212,859 students.
De Leon Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 55.4% is above the 47.1% average for nearby schools.
Castaneda Elementary School is coded as City: Mid-size in federal locale data.
Enrollment was 509 in 2020-21 and 374 in 2024-25, a decrease of 135 students.
Topics for discussion here include school safety, transportation, and start times. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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 MCALLEN ISD
- McAllen High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Memorial High SchoolHigh · 2,021 students
- Rowe High SchoolHigh · 1,905 students
- Morris Middle SchoolMiddle · 999 students
- Cathey Middle SchoolMiddle · 827 students
- Gonzalez Elementary SchoolElementary · 818 students
Other schools in MCALLEN
- McAllen High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Memorial High SchoolHigh · 2,021 students
- Morris Middle SchoolMiddle · 999 students
- Cathey Middle SchoolMiddle · 827 students
- IDEA McAllen College PreparatoryHigh · 820 students
- Gonzalez Elementary SchoolElementary · 818 students
Nearby schools
- De Leon Middle School0.2 mi · 664
- McAuliffe Elementary School0.7 mi · 385
- Southwest Key Program0.9 mi · 1
- Quest Collegiate Academy-McAllen1.0 mi · 84
- Lucile Hendricks Elementary School1.1 mi · 432
- Seguin Elementary School1.2 mi · 530
Frequently asked questions
About Castaneda Elementary SchoolHow large is Castaneda Elementary School?
Castaneda Elementary School enrolls approximately 374 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Castaneda Elementary School serve?
Castaneda Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Castaneda Elementary School?
Approximately 13.9:1 students per teacher at Castaneda Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Castaneda Elementary School?
Student demographics at Castaneda Elementary School are roughly 2% White, 94% Hispanic, 2% Black, 2% Asian, 1% Two or more.
What district is Castaneda Elementary School in?
Castaneda Elementary School is part of MCALLEN ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.