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If you had an hour of school board time for GERALDINE PALMER EL, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
657
Elementary
DISTRICT 526 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD·NCES 483486003917
GERALDINE PALMER EL
1200 W HALL ACRES RD, PHARR, TX 78577 · (956) 354-2860 · Hidalgo County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL657 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.3:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.3:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
89%
582 students
DISTRICT 94% · 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
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
STAAR 2023-24 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
49.0%
TX avg 51.8% . +21.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
45.0%
TX avg 42.0% . +30.0pp 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 45 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 52 and 42. Reading scores are up about 21 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 30 points.
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
44.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.2%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% 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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
657
-16 (-2%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
17.3:1
was 16.6:1
% White
2%
was 1%
% Hispanic
97%
was 99%
% Black
1%
was 0%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About GERALDINE PALMER EL
GERALDINE PALMER EL is one of the moderately sized primary schools in PHARR, Texas, part of PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD, with 657 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 27% bigger than the typical public school in Texas, which averages around 519 students.
Across the 44 schools in PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD (29,749 students total), GERALDINE PALMER EL accounts for its share of the district's footprint.
Looking at the student body, GERALDINE PALMER EL reports that the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (97%). Beyond that, the school lists 2% White.
Looking at school resources, On paper, GERALDINE PALMER EL has 38 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 17.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.1:1, putting GERALDINE PALMER EL higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 89% of students at GERALDINE PALMER EL qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.
On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), GERALDINE PALMER EL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 35.2%, the actual is 44.4%, a residual of +9.2 points.
In the broader community, community-level numbers for Hidalgo County indicate median household income runs about $54,338, 21% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 23%. In all, Hidalgo County runs 364 public schools (combined enrollment of about 212,859 students), of which GERALDINE PALMER EL is one.
The closest other public school is KENNEDY MIDDLE, roughly 0.4 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around GERALDINE PALMER EL. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts GERALDINE PALMER EL at 8th of 9; the average score across the group is 49.1%.
The school occupies a downtown site.
Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at GERALDINE PALMER EL has remained close to its prior level, going from 673 students in 2018 to 657 in 2025.
On this page, posts here usually surface around school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.
Hidalgo County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
891,977
Census ACS
Median income
$54,338
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
23%
Below federal line
Schools in county
364
212,859 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD
- PSJA EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 2,300 students
- PSJA NORTH EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 2,166 students
- PSJA MEMORIAL EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 1,997 students
- PSJA SOUTHWEST EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 1,588 students
- LYNDON B JOHNSON MIDDLEMiddle · 1,006 students
- AUSTIN MIDDLEMiddle · 833 students
Other schools in PHARR
- PSJA NORTH EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 2,166 students
- VANGUARD REMBRANDTCombined · 1,978 students
- PSJA SOUTHWEST EARLY COLLEGE H SHigh · 1,588 students
- VANGUARD VAN GOGHCombined · 1,048 students
- LYNDON B JOHNSON MIDDLEMiddle · 1,006 students
- IDEA COLLEGE PREPARATORY PHARRHigh · 848 students
Nearby schools
- KENNEDY MIDDLE0.4 mi · 519
- VANGUARD VAN GOGH0.5 mi · 1,048
- PSJA SOUTHWEST EARLY COLLEGE H S1.2 mi · 1,588
- AIDA C ESCOBAR EL1.6 mi · 735
- LIBERTY MIDDLE1.6 mi · 742
- VANGUARD PICASSO1.6 mi · 572
Frequently asked questions
About GERALDINE PALMER ELWhat is the total enrollment at GERALDINE PALMER EL?
GERALDINE PALMER EL enrolls approximately 657 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does GERALDINE PALMER EL serve?
GERALDINE PALMER EL serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does GERALDINE PALMER EL have?
GERALDINE PALMER EL employs 38 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.3:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at GERALDINE PALMER EL?
At GERALDINE PALMER EL, the student body is approximately 2% White, 97% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian.
Is GERALDINE PALMER EL public or private?
GERALDINE PALMER EL is a public K-12 school, overseen by PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.