1
Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at DUNAWAY EL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
525
Elementary
DISTRICT 471 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAXAHACHIE ISD·NCES 484473006494
Dunaway Elementary School
600 S HWY 77, WAXAHACHIE, TX 75165 · (972) 923-4646 · Ellis County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL525 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 57% of Texas public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- CThree-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
14.4:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.1:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
66%
346 students
DISTRICT 50% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 84 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 81 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 79 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 92 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 105 | 20% |
| Grade 5 | 84 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (84) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (84).
Student demographics
47%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 68% · 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
49.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +19.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
39.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +2.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 39 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 19 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 2 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 19.0% | 30.0% | 28.0% | 23.0% |
| Mathematics | 16.0% | 23.0% | 30.0% | 31.0% |
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 | 49.0% | 39.0% |
| 2024-25 | 53.0% | 42.0% |
| 2023-24 | 43.0% | 48.0% |
| 2022-23 | 41.0% | 46.0% |
| 2021-22 | 38.0% | 35.0% |
| 2020-21 | 30.0% | 37.0% |
% 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
47.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.5%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 46% 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 Dunaway Elementary School
Dunaway Elementary School's state test result (47.1% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dunaway Elementary School this school | 525 | 65.9% | 47.1% |
| Koennecke Elementary School SEGUIN | 560 | 65.0% | 40.5% |
| Clear Fork Elementary School LOCKHART | 523 | 63.7% | 42.5% |
| Scharbauer Elementary School MIDLAND | 579 | 64.8% | 34.9% |
| Wooden Elementary School RED OAK | 508 | 64.4% | 46.6% |
| Hernandez Elementary School SAN MARCOS | 577 | 66.9% | 46.6% |
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 Dunaway Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Ellis County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.1% | #1,725 of 4,401 | #15 of 36 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 39.0% | #3,029 of 4,466 ▼ 521 | #27 of 36 ▼ 7 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.0% | #2,691 of 4,466 ▼ 503 | #24 of 36 ▼ 8 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +0.5pp | #2,792 of 3,998 | #22 of 32 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 525 | #2,298 of 4,938 | #17 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.4:1 | #1,879 of 4,622 | #16 of 42 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.6% | #2,674 of 4,628 | #38 of 42 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 65.9% | #2,786 of 4,789 | #14 of 42 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.1% | #2,304 of 2,838 | #13 of 15 |
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
525
+67 (+15%) vs 2020
+5% since 1990-91, when it was 502
Student : Teacher
14.4:1
was 12.4:1
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 | 525 | 36.5 | 14.4:1 | 66% (346) |
| 2023-24 | 465 | 37 | 12.6:1 | 66% (305) |
| 2022-23 | 454 | 38.9 | 11.7:1 | 64% (290) |
| 2020-21 | 458 | 37 | 12.4:1 | 64% (295) |
| 2017-18 | 565 | 40.1 | 14.1:1 | 64% (360) |
| 2015-16 | 564 | 40 | 14.1:1 | 67% (378) |
| 2010-11 | 556 | 36 | 15.4:1 | 61% (339) |
| 2000-01 | 673 | 42 | 16.0:1 | 47% (319) |
| 1990-91 | 502 | 28 | 17.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Dunaway Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (565 to 525); teachers down 9% (40.1 to 36.5).
About Dunaway Elementary School
Dunaway Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school in WAXAHACHIE ISD, located in WAXAHACHIE, Texas. It is open to students in kindergarten through 5 and enrolls 525 students.
Besides Dunaway Elementary School, WAXAHACHIE ISD runs 17 other schools. The district enrolls 11,196 students.
More than half of enrollment at Dunaway Elementary School is Hispanic: 68%. Other groups include 26% White and 4% Black. The county population is about 28% Hispanic. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Dunaway Elementary School scores 47%.
Dunaway Elementary School has a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.4:1, with 36.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. Compared with the 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas, this school's ratio is lower. The school has 66% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. It compares with 51% for public schools in Ellis County.
On the allk12 Grade, Dunaway Elementary School lands at B, ahead of 57% of Texas public elementary schools.
After adjusting for student poverty, Dunaway Elementary School lands between the top and bottom 10% of Texas schools. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 47.1%; the prediction is 45.5%.
In the wider Ellis County area, median household income comes to about $99,595, 30% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Ellis County's 83 public schools enroll about 46,344 students and include Dunaway Elementary School.
Of the public schools around it, Dunaway Elementary School is closest to Marvin Biomedical Academy, about 1.6 miles away. Dunaway Elementary School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Dunaway Elementary School ranks 3rd of 7 nearby schools, at 47.1% versus a 44.0% average.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Suburb: Large: in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment was 525 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 458. The ratio was 12.4:1 in 2020-21 and 14.4:1 in 2024-25.
Use the discussion section to ask about homework, tutoring, and testing dates at Dunaway Elementary School. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Ellis County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
213,160
Census ACS
Median income
$99,595
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
30%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
46,344 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in WAXAHACHIE ISD
- Waxahachie High SchoolHigh · 3,056 students
- Howard Junior High SchoolMiddle · 918 students
- Finley Junior High SchoolMiddle · 839 students
- Coleman Junior High SchoolMiddle · 775 students
- Wedgeworth Elementary SchoolElementary · 594 students
- Simpson Elementary SchoolElementary · 592 students
Other schools in WAXAHACHIE
- Waxahachie High SchoolHigh · 3,056 students
- Life H S WaxahachieHigh · 1,114 students
- Howard Junior High SchoolMiddle · 918 students
- Finley Junior High SchoolMiddle · 839 students
- Coleman Junior High SchoolMiddle · 775 students
- Wedgeworth Elementary SchoolElementary · 594 students
Nearby schools
- Marvin Biomedical Academy1.6 mi · 535
- Turner Prekindergarten Academy1.7 mi · 256
- Northside Elementary School2.3 mi · 480
- Clift Elementary School2.3 mi · 449
- Waxahachie Global High School2.9 mi · 369
- Waxahachie H S of Choice3.0 mi · 56
Frequently asked questions
About Dunaway Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Dunaway Elementary School?
Dunaway Elementary School enrolls approximately 525 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Dunaway Elementary School serve?
Dunaway Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Dunaway Elementary School?
Approximately 14.4:1 students per teacher at Dunaway Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Dunaway Elementary School?
Student demographics at Dunaway Elementary School are roughly 26% White, 68% Hispanic, 4% Black, 0% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is Dunaway Elementary School in?
Dunaway Elementary School is part of WAXAHACHIE ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.