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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 Elementary School
1200 W HALL ACRES RD, PHARR, TX 78577 · (956) 354-2860 · Hidalgo County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL657 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 73% 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.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- BThree-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
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, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 118 | 18% |
| Kindergarten | 97 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 87 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 91 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 90 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 87 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 87 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (97) is 11% larger than its 5th grade class (87).
Student demographics
6%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 2% · 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
54.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +26.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
54.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +39.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 54 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 54 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 39 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 29.0% | 25.0% | 20.0% | 26.0% |
| Mathematics | 29.0% | 25.0% | 18.0% | 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 | 54.0% | 54.0% |
| 2024-25 | 54.0% | 43.0% |
| 2023-24 | 49.0% | 45.0% |
| 2022-23 | 46.0% | 44.0% |
| 2021-22 | 39.0% | 42.0% |
| 2020-21 | 28.0% | 15.0% |
% 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
46.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.9%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% 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 Geraldine Palmer Elementary School
Geraldine Palmer Elementary School's state test result (46.5% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geraldine Palmer Elementary School this school | 657 | 88.6% | 46.5% |
| IDEA Academy Weslaco WESLACO | 649 | 88.6% | 37.8% |
| Harmony School of Innovation - Laredo LAREDO | 679 | 88.5% | 36.8% |
| Robert Driscoll Jr STEM Academy ROBSTOWN | 676 | 89.8% | 22.7% |
| Freedom Elementary School LAREDO | 651 | 88.9% | 60.8% |
| Collins-Parr Elementary School SAN DIEGO | 688 | 89.7% | 42.9% |
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 Geraldine Palmer Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Hidalgo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.5% | #1,798 of 4,401 | #73 of 181 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 54.0% | #1,426 of 4,466 ▲ 947 | #60 of 183 ▲ 43 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 54.0% | #2,077 of 4,466 ▼ 20 | #83 of 183 ▼ 4 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +9.0pp | #1,605 of 3,998 | #71 of 180 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 657 | #1,205 of 4,938 | #38 of 192 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.3:1 | #4,001 of 4,622 | #144 of 185 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 6.2% | #4,271 of 4,628 | #53 of 185 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 88.6% | #1,221 of 4,789 | #107 of 190 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.4% | #2,663 of 2,838 | #122 of 128 |
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
657
-39 (-6%) vs 2020
+72% since 1990-91, when it was 382
Student : Teacher
17.3:1
was 17.9:1
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 | 657 | 38 | 17.3:1 | 89% (582) |
| 2023-24 | 677 | 39.2 | 17.3:1 | 90% (609) |
| 2022-23 | 644 | 36 | 17.9:1 | 88% (568) |
| 2020-21 | 696 | 39 | 17.9:1 | 88% (613) |
| 2017-18 | 673 | 40.6 | 16.6:1 | 88% (595) |
| 2015-16 | 655 | 36 | 18.2:1 | 85% (558) |
| 2010-11 | 637 | 34 | 18.7:1 | 0% (0) |
| 2000-01 | 595 | 33 | 18.0:1 | 8% (47) |
| 1990-91 | 382 | 26 | 14.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Geraldine Palmer Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (673 to 657); teachers down 6% (40.6 to 38).
About Geraldine Palmer Elementary School
Geraldine Palmer Elementary School is a public elementary school run by PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD in PHARR, Texas. The latest federal count shows 657 students in pre-K through 5. Against the 519-student average for elementary schools in Texas, enrollment here is 27% higher.
PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD operates 44 schools. Combined enrollment is 29,749 students.
Hispanic students are the large majority at Geraldine Palmer Elementary School, with 97% of enrollment. The next largest groups are 2% White. Geraldine Palmer Elementary School has a diversity index of 6%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school's student-to-teacher ratio is about 17.3:1, with 38 full-time-equivalent teachers. Among elementary schools in Texas, the typical ratio is 15.1:1. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Geraldine Palmer Elementary School is 89%.
Geraldine Palmer Elementary School is graded B+ by allk12, scoring above 73% of Texas public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Geraldine Palmer Elementary School would be expected to post about 35.9%. Its actual average proficiency rate on state tests is 46.5%.
Hidalgo County has these Census figures: median household income is about $54,338, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 21%, and roughly 23% of residents are in poverty. Geraldine Palmer Elementary School is among the 364 public schools in Hidalgo County.
Of nearby public schools, Kennedy Middle School is the closest, at about 0.4 miles. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. The nearest schools with test data average 48.0%, higher than Geraldine Palmer Elementary School's 46.5%.
NCES lists the school's locale as City: Small. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Federal counts put enrollment at 696 in 2020-21 and 657 in 2024-25, a 6% decrease.
Conversations here can range across science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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 High SchoolHigh · 2,300 students
- Psja North Early College High SchoolHigh · 2,166 students
- Psja Memorial Early College High SchoolHigh · 1,997 students
- Psja Southwest Early College High SchoolHigh · 1,588 students
- Lyndon B Johnson Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,006 students
- Austin Middle SchoolMiddle · 833 students
Other schools in PHARR
- Psja North Early College High SchoolHigh · 2,166 students
- Vanguard RembrandtCombined · 1,978 students
- Psja Southwest Early College High SchoolHigh · 1,588 students
- Vanguard Van GoghCombined · 1,048 students
- Lyndon B Johnson Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,006 students
- IDEA College Preparatory PharrHigh · 848 students
Nearby schools
- Kennedy Middle School0.4 mi · 519
- Vanguard Van Gogh0.5 mi · 1,048
- Psja Southwest Early College High School1.2 mi · 1,588
- Aida C Escobar Elementary School1.6 mi · 735
- Liberty Middle School1.6 mi · 742
- Vanguard Picasso1.6 mi · 572
Frequently asked questions
About Geraldine Palmer Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Geraldine Palmer Elementary School?
Geraldine Palmer Elementary School enrolls approximately 657 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Geraldine Palmer Elementary School serve?
Geraldine Palmer Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does Geraldine Palmer Elementary School have?
Geraldine Palmer Elementary School employs 38 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.3:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Geraldine Palmer Elementary School?
At Geraldine Palmer Elementary School, the student body is approximately 2% White, 97% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian.
Is Geraldine Palmer Elementary School public or private?
Geraldine Palmer Elementary School 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.