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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at DEAN HIGHLAND EL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
617
Elementary
DISTRICT 474 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WACO ISD·NCES 484428005034
Dean Highland Elementary School
3300 MAPLE, WACO, TX 76707 · (254) 752-3751 · McLennan County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL617 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.2:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
95%
585 students
DISTRICT 89% · 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 | 68 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 76 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 88 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 91 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 103 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 97 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 94 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (76) is 19% smaller than its 5th grade class (94).
Student demographics
49%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
20.0%
TX avg 54.5% . -2.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
14.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -8.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 20 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 14 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are down about 2 points since 2020, while math scores are down about 8 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 4.0% | 16.0% | 25.0% | 55.0% |
| Mathematics | 3.0% | 11.0% | 20.0% | 66.0% |
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 | 20.0% | 14.0% |
| 2024-25 | 23.0% | 13.0% |
| 2023-24 | 20.0% | 11.0% |
| 2022-23 | 21.0% | 10.0% |
| 2021-22 | 36.0% | 21.0% |
| 2020-21 | 22.0% | 22.0% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of TX schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
15.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.2%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-17.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 15% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 33% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Dean Highland Elementary School
Dean Highland Elementary School's state test result (15.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dean Highland Elementary School this school | 617 | 94.8% | 15.3% |
| Tyrrell Elementary School PORT ARTHUR | 670 | 93.4% | 29.3% |
| Eddie Bernice Johnson STEM Academy WILMER | 554 | 94.9% | 36.1% |
| Griffin Elementary School TYLER | 649 | 93.8% | 30.2% |
| Burnet Elementary School GALVESTON | 562 | 92.3% | 26.6% |
| IDEA Najim Academy SAN ANTONIO | 540 | 93.5% | 26.5% |
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 Dean Highland Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In McLennan County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 15.3% | #4,365 of 4,401 | #39 of 41 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 14.0% | #4,441 of 4,466 ▼ 12 | #39 of 41 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 20.0% | #4,443 of 4,466 ▼ 53 | #41 of 41 ▼ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.5pp | #2,657 of 3,998 | #23 of 40 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 617 | #1,483 of 4,938 | #6 of 49 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.2:1 | #3,976 of 4,622 | #43 of 45 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.6% | #2,537 of 4,628 | #35 of 45 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 94.8% | #539 of 4,789 | #9 of 48 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.5% | #1,484 of 2,838 | #9 of 28 |
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
617
-17 (-3%) vs 2020
+68% since 1990-91, when it was 367
Student : Teacher
17.2:1
was 14.7:1
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 | 617 | 35.8 | 17.2:1 | 95% (585) |
| 2023-24 | 597 | 36.5 | 16.4:1 | 94% (559) |
| 2022-23 | 598 | 32.7 | 18.3:1 | 93% (557) |
| 2020-21 | 634 | 43 | 14.7:1 | 93% (591) |
| 2017-18 | 739 | 44.5 | 16.6:1 | 90% (666) |
| 2015-16 | 793 | 45 | 17.6:1 | 92% (730) |
| 2010-11 | 291 | 21 | 13.9:1 | 92% (268) |
| 2000-01 | 407 | 27 | 15.1:1 | 76% (309) |
| 1990-91 | 367 | 21 | 17.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Dean Highland Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 17% (739 to 617); teachers down 20% (44.5 to 35.8).
About Dean Highland Elementary School
Dean Highland Elementary School is a public elementary school run by WACO ISD in WACO, Texas. The school has 617 students in 2024-25 across pre-K through 5.
WACO ISD includes 24 schools. Together they enroll 13,476 students.
About 67% of the student body at Dean Highland Elementary School is Hispanic. The remaining students are 24% Black, 5% White, and 3% multiracial. Among people living in McLennan County, the Hispanic share is about 27%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 49, compared with 70 nationally.
The school lists 35.8 full-time-equivalent teachers and a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.2:1. The average for elementary schools in Texas, 15.1:1, is lower. A total of 585 students, or 95%, are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. By comparison, the figure for public schools in McLennan County is 62%.
Dean Highland Elementary School posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 15.3%. Schools with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Texas are predicted to post 33.2%, so the school is 17.9 points behind and in the state's bottom 10%.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for McLennan County show that the median household earns about $66,643 a year, about 29% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 11%. Across McLennan County, 124 public schools serve about 45,703 students.
The closest school to Dean Highland Elementary School is Waco High School, located about 0.8 miles away. Dean Highland Elementary School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Dean Highland Elementary School at 6th of 6.
Dean Highland Elementary School falls in the City: Mid-size locale category, used for schools inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment decreased 3%. The school's ratio increased from 14.7:1 to 17.2:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
People can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips and other school topics. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
McLennan County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
266,067
Census ACS
Median income
$66,643
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
124
45,703 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in WACO ISD
- Waco High SchoolHigh · 1,885 students
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,752 students
- Tennyson Middle SchoolMiddle · 963 students
- Bell's Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 786 students
- Cesar Chavez Middle SchoolMiddle · 786 students
- Lake Air Montessori SchoolElementary · 734 students
Other schools in WACO
- Midway High SchoolHigh · 2,687 students
- Waco High SchoolHigh · 1,885 students
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,752 students
- Tennyson Middle SchoolMiddle · 963 students
- La Vega High SchoolHigh · 881 students
- Bell's Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 786 students
Nearby schools
- Waco High School0.8 mi · 1,885
- Provident Heights Elementary School0.9 mi · 383
- Hillcrest Pds Magnet0.9 mi · 431
- Lake Air Montessori School1.1 mi · 734
- Crestview Elementary School1.1 mi · 464
- Brazos High School1.3 mi · 100
Frequently asked questions
About Dean Highland Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Dean Highland Elementary School?
Dean Highland Elementary School enrolls approximately 617 students in grades PK-05.
Is Dean Highland Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Dean Highland Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Dean Highland Elementary School?
Approximately 17.2:1 students per teacher at Dean Highland Elementary School.
How diverse is Dean Highland Elementary School?
Dean Highland Elementary School reports a student body of 5% White, 67% Hispanic, 24% Black, 0% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Is Dean Highland Elementary School public or private?
Dean Highland Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by WACO ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.