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What's one thing COWAN EL gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
555
Elementary
DISTRICT 467 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·AUSTIN ISD·NCES 480894008940
Cowan Elementary School
2817 KENTISH DR, AUSTIN, TX 78748 · (512) 841-2700 · Travis County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL555 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 63% of Texas public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats 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
12.6:1
44 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.7:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
30%
164 students
DISTRICT 61% · 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 | 49 | 9% |
| Kindergarten | 85 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 92 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 87 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 80 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 90 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 72 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (85) is 18% larger than its 5th grade class (72).
Student demographics
63%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 60% · 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
69.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +26.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
48.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +17.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 69 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 48 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 26 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 17 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 47.0% | 22.0% | 13.0% | 18.0% |
| Mathematics | 22.0% | 26.0% | 24.0% | 28.0% |
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 | 69.0% | 48.0% |
| 2024-25 | 66.0% | 51.0% |
| 2023-24 | 66.0% | 50.0% |
| 2022-23 | 60.0% | 44.0% |
| 2021-22 | 56.0% | 52.0% |
| 2020-21 | 43.0% | 31.0% |
% 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
57.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
61.1%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 57% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 61% 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 Cowan Elementary School
Cowan Elementary School's state test result (57.4% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cowan Elementary School this school | 555 | 29.5% | 57.4% |
| Crestview Elementary School LUBBOCK | 609 | 29.9% | 71.5% |
| Ouida Springer ROCKWALL | 595 | 31.8% | 59.2% |
| Lago Vista Elementary School LAGO VISTA | 550 | 32.2% | 50.3% |
| Rolling Hills Elementary School FORT WORTH | 527 | 28.5% | 61.6% |
| Kendall Elementary School BOERNE | 562 | 33.6% | 62.5% |
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 Cowan Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Travis County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 57.4% | #906 of 4,401 | #43 of 166 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 48.0% | #1,920 of 4,466 ▼ 413 | #70 of 176 ▼ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 69.0% | #758 of 4,466 ▲ 198 | #50 of 176 ▲ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +6.5pp | #1,912 of 3,998 | #76 of 166 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 555 | #1,990 of 4,938 | #68 of 183 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.6:1 | #566 of 4,622 | #54 of 174 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.7% | #1,164 of 4,628 | #42 of 174 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 29.5% | #4,229 of 4,789 | #128 of 170 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -34.0% | #331 of 2,838 | #16 of 120 |
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
555
-86 (-13%) vs 2020
+38% since 2000-01, when it was 401
Student : Teacher
12.6:1
was 13.9:1
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 | 555 | 44.1 | 12.6:1 | 30% (164) |
| 2023-24 | 546 | 42 | 13.0:1 | 34% (188) |
| 2022-23 | 544 | 36 | 15.1:1 | 36% (194) |
| 2020-21 | 641 | 46 | 13.9:1 | 33% (214) |
| 2017-18 | 841 | 51.2 | 16.4:1 | 31% (257) |
| 2015-16 | 790 | 48 | 16.5:1 | 30% (240) |
| 2010-11 | 784 | 48 | 16.3:1 | 33% (257) |
| 2000-01 | 401 | 26 | 15.4:1 | 14% (58) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cowan Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 34% (841 to 555); teachers down 14% (51.2 to 44.1).
About Cowan Elementary School
Cowan Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school based in AUSTIN, Texas. The latest federal count shows 555 students in pre-K through 5.
The AUSTIN ISD system has 123 schools and 72,272 students.
Cowan Elementary School has no majority group; White students are the largest, at 45%. Other students are 40% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, and 5% Asian. By comparison, Travis County residents are about 55% White. Pick two students at random and there is a 63% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Cowan Elementary School operates with 44.1 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 12.6:1. That is lower than the 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas. About 30% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits. Compared with the 54% average for public schools in Travis County, the school's rate is lower.
allk12 grades Cowan Elementary School a B. The grade compares the school only with Texas public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Cowan Elementary School is -3.7 points: 57.4% actual, 61.1% predicted.
Cowan Elementary School is located in Travis County, where the median household income is $99,611, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 57%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Besides Cowan Elementary School, Travis County has 332 other public schools.
Kocurek Elementary School is the closest public school, about 0.7 miles away in a straight line. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. The nearest schools with test data average 45.8%, lower than Cowan Elementary School's 57.4%.
The federal government classifies Cowan Elementary School's location as City: Large.
Federal data show a 13% enrollment decrease, from 641 in 2020-21 to 555 in 2024-25. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio fell to 12.6:1, from 13.9:1.
Community posts for Cowan Elementary School can cover school safety, transportation, and start times. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Travis County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,330,015
Census ACS
Median income
$99,611
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
57%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
333
191,706 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in AUSTIN ISD
- Bowie High SchoolHigh · 2,876 students
- Akins Early College High SchoolHigh · 2,421 students
- Austin High SchoolHigh · 2,323 students
- Anderson High SchoolHigh · 2,223 students
- McCallum High SchoolHigh · 1,897 students
- Navarro Early College High SchoolHigh · 1,633 students
Other schools in AUSTIN
- Lake Travis High SchoolHigh · 3,569 students
- Bowie High SchoolHigh · 2,876 students
- Westwood High SchoolHigh · 2,858 students
- Westlake High SchoolHigh · 2,854 students
- McNeil High SchoolHigh · 2,660 students
- Vandegrift High SchoolHigh · 2,437 students
Other Cowan Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Cowan Elementary. Cowan Elementary School is the largest of the 4.
- Cowan Elementary SchoolMuncie, IN · 409 students
- Cowan ElementaryCowan, TN · 260 students
- Cowan Elementary SchoolWhitesburg, KY · 246 students
Nearby schools
- Kocurek Elementary School0.7 mi · 507
- Boone Elementary School1.1 mi · 428
- Casey Elementary School1.4 mi · 544
- Bowie High School1.5 mi · 2,876
- Tnc Campus (texas Neurorehabilitation Center)1.6 mi · 57
- Covington Middle School1.7 mi · 632
Frequently asked questions
About Cowan Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Cowan Elementary School?
Cowan Elementary School enrolls approximately 555 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Cowan Elementary School serve?
Cowan Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Cowan Elementary School?
Approximately 12.6:1 students per teacher at Cowan Elementary School.
How diverse is Cowan Elementary School?
Cowan Elementary School reports a student body of 45% White, 40% Hispanic, 2% Black, 5% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees Cowan Elementary School?
Cowan Elementary School is overseen by AUSTIN ISD in Travis County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.