Enrollment
313
Elementary
DISTRICT 423 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARLINGEN CISD·NCES 482253002282
Dishman Elementary School
309 MADELEY, COMBES, TX 78535 · (956) 427-3100 · Cameron County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL313 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.6:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
94%
295 students
DISTRICT 80% · 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 | 35 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 32 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 43 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 42 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 53 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 54 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 54 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (32) is 41% smaller than its 5th grade class (54).
Student demographics
7%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 10% · 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
66.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +60.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
53.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +42.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 66 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 53 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 60 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 42 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 37.0% | 29.0% | 18.0% | 16.0% |
| Mathematics | 26.0% | 27.0% | 27.0% | 20.0% |
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 | 66.0% | 53.0% |
| 2024-25 | 63.0% | 59.0% |
| 2023-24 | 53.0% | 45.0% |
| 2022-23 | 57.0% | 57.0% |
| 2021-22 | 33.0% | 29.0% |
| 2020-21 | 6.0% | 11.0% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of TX schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
50.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.4%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+16.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 50% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 33% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 17 points, placing it in Texas's top 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 Dishman Elementary School
Dishman Elementary School's state test result (50.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dishman Elementary School this school | 313 | 94.2% | 50.0% |
| Roberts Elementary School SAN BENITO | 303 | 95.0% | 21.0% |
| Aoy Elementary School EL PASO | 315 | 94.9% | 31.3% |
| Bowie Elementary School HARLINGEN | 335 | 93.4% | 61.3% |
| David G Sanchez Elementary School LA FERIA | 330 | 92.7% | 52.1% |
| Ogden Elementary School SAN ANTONIO | 335 | 94.6% | 11.3% |
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 Dishman Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Cameron County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #1,429 of 4,401 | #28 of 93 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 53.0% | #1,493 of 4,466 ▼ 562 | #39 of 93 ▼ 18 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 66.0% | #943 of 4,466 ▲ 248 | #14 of 93 ▲ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +2.5pp | #2,488 of 3,998 | #71 of 93 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 313 | #4,117 of 4,938 | #80 of 95 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.9:1 | #2,336 of 4,622 | #31 of 93 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 6.8% | #4,237 of 4,628 | #37 of 93 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 94.2% | #596 of 4,789 | #26 of 94 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.4% | #2,267 of 2,838 | #58 of 64 |
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
313
-78 (-20%) vs 2020
-20% since 1990-91, when it was 392
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
was 15.0:1
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 | 313 | 21 | 14.9:1 | 94% (295) |
| 2023-24 | 321 | 22.6 | 14.2:1 | 95% (305) |
| 2022-23 | 320 | 23.3 | 13.7:1 | 95% (303) |
| 2020-21 | 391 | 26 | 15.0:1 | 91% (356) |
| 2017-18 | 338 | 25.6 | 13.2:1 | 93% (315) |
| 2015-16 | 410 | 26 | 15.8:1 | 92% (376) |
| 2010-11 | 496 | 30 | 16.5:1 | 92% (457) |
| 2000-01 | 453 | 29 | 15.6:1 | 91% (412) |
| 1990-91 | 392 | 21 | 18.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Dishman Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (338 to 313); teachers down 18% (25.6 to 21).
About Dishman Elementary School
Federal records list Dishman Elementary School as an elementary school in COMBES, Texas. The school teaches pre-K through 5 and enrolls 313 students. That is 40% below the average of about 519 students for elementary schools in Texas.
Besides Dishman Elementary School, HARLINGEN CISD runs 30 other schools. The district enrolls 17,506 students.
At Dishman Elementary School, 96% of students are Hispanic. The remaining students are 3% White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Dishman Elementary School scores 7%.
Dishman Elementary School reports a ratio of 14.9 students per teacher, from 21 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average ratio among elementary schools in Texas is similar, at 15.1:1. Student poverty is often measured by lunch eligibility; at Dishman Elementary School, 94% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The gap from the 84% average for public schools in Cameron County is 10 points.
Dishman Elementary School scores 16.6 points above its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results: 50.0% actual versus 33.4% predicted. That puts it in the top 10% of Texas schools on BeatsExpectations.
For Cameron County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $52,601, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 22%, and about 21% of people live in poverty. There are 187 public schools in the county, enrolling about 97,392, Dishman Elementary School among them.
Dishman Elementary School's nearest public school is Wilson Elementary School (about 2.5 miles). There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Of the 8 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Dishman Elementary School is 2nd on average proficiency.
The NCES locale for Dishman Elementary School is Rural: Fringe, which covers schools in rural territory close to an urban area.
A 20% decline took enrollment from 391 in 2020-21 to 313 in 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.
Cameron County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
426,120
Census ACS
Median income
$52,601
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
21%
Below federal line
Schools in county
187
97,392 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in HARLINGEN CISD
- Harlingen High SchoolHigh · 2,433 students
- Harlingen H S - SouthHigh · 2,019 students
- Dr Abraham P Cano Freshman AcademyCombined · 1,035 students
- Moises Vela Middle SchoolMiddle · 761 students
- Treasure Hills Elementary SchoolElementary · 758 students
- Gutierrez Middle SchoolMiddle · 747 students
Other Dishman Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Dishman Elementary. Dishman Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Dishman Elementary SchoolBEAUMONT, TX · 500 students
Nearby schools
- Wilson Elementary School2.5 mi · 373
- Gutierrez Middle School2.9 mi · 747
- IDEA Harlingen College Preparatory3.0 mi · 457
- IDEA Harlingen Academy3.0 mi · 651
- Hcisd Early Childhood Academy3.3 mi · 255
- Dr Abraham P Cano Freshman Academy3.4 mi · 1,035
Frequently asked questions
About Dishman Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Dishman Elementary School?
Dishman Elementary School enrolls approximately 313 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Dishman Elementary School serve?
Dishman Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Dishman Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Dishman Elementary School is approximately 14.9:1 (21 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Dishman Elementary School?
At Dishman Elementary School, the student body is approximately 3% White, 96% Hispanic, 1% Black.
What district is Dishman Elementary School in?
Dishman Elementary School is part of HARLINGEN CISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.