CASTANEDA EL

Set in MCALLEN, Texas, CASTANEDA EL is a tight-knit primary school, overseen by MCALLEN ISD. It caters to 374 students across grades pre-K through 5. By comparison, Texas's public schools average about 519 students each, so CASTANEDA EL sits 28% below that benchmark.

MCALLEN ISD comprises 31 schools with combined enrollment of 19,890 students; CASTANEDA EL is among them.

In terms of who attends, CASTANEDA EL lists that 94% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. Compared to Hidalgo County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.9:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.1:1 average. An estimated 74% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Hidalgo County runs at roughly 85%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat below the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), CASTANEDA EL tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 41.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 51.8%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Hidalgo County indicate median household earnings sit near $54,338, about 21% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 23%. CASTANEDA EL is one of 364 public schools in Hidalgo County (combined enrollment of about 212,859 students).

Nearest neighbor: DE LEON MIDDLE, around 0.2 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around CASTANEDA EL. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts CASTANEDA EL at 4th of 8; the average score across the group is 45.6%.

Geographically, the school is in a metropolitan area.

Over the past 7-year window. CASTANEDA EL's enrollment has contracted 35% since 2018, when it stood at 574 (now 374). Class-load math has pulled in: from 16.9:1 in 2018 to 13.9:1 in 2025.

On this page, members of the CASTANEDA EL community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.