Enrollment
343
Elementary
DISTRICT 231 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SPEARMAN ISD·NCES 484101004663
Gus Birdwell Elementary School
511 S TOWNSEND ST, SPEARMAN, TX 79081 · (806) 659-2565 · Hansford County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL343 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 86% of Texas public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A-Three-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
11.9:1
29 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.4:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
66%
228 students
DISTRICT 64% · 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 | 56 | 16% |
| Kindergarten | 52 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 40 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 53 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 40 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 54 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 48 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (52) is 8% larger than its 5th grade class (48).
Student demographics
45%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 44% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within SPEARMAN ISD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Gus Birdwell Elementary School.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
56.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +20.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
55.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +11.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 56 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 55 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 20 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 11 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 24.0% | 32.0% | 21.0% | 23.0% |
| Mathematics | 27.0% | 28.0% | 23.0% | 22.0% |
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 | 56.0% | 55.0% |
| 2024-25 | 54.0% | 59.0% |
| 2023-24 | 65.0% | 58.0% |
| 2022-23 | 43.0% | 34.0% |
| 2021-22 | 43.0% | 38.0% |
| 2020-21 | 36.0% | 44.0% |
% 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
54.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.3%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 55% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% 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 Gus Birdwell Elementary School
Gus Birdwell Elementary School's state test result (54.8% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gus Birdwell Elementary School this school | 343 | 66.5% | 54.8% |
| Coupland Elementary School COUPLAND | 323 | 68.7% | 38.5% |
| Hp Webb Elementary School OLTON | 291 | 67.0% | 36.3% |
| Tatom Elementary School MONAHANS | 326 | 69.6% | N/A |
| Orange Grove Primary School ORANGE GROVE | 409 | 68.5% | N/A |
| James L Wright Elementary School PERRYTON | 385 | 65.5% | 46.5% |
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 Gus Birdwell Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 54.8% | #1,092 of 4,401 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 55.0% | #1,352 of 4,466 ▼ 396 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 56.0% | #1,866 of 4,466 ▲ 204 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +17.0pp | #726 of 3,998 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 343 | #3,924 of 4,938 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.9:1 | #310 of 4,622 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 44.8% | #2,804 of 4,628 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 66.5% | #2,754 of 4,789 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.7% | #1,285 of 2,838 |
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
343
-35 (-9%) vs 2020
-24% since 1990-91, when it was 451
Student : Teacher
11.9:1
was 11.4:1
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 | 343 | 28.9 | 11.9:1 | 66% (228) |
| 2023-24 | 356 | 32.6 | 10.9:1 | 59% (211) |
| 2022-23 | 357 | 35.4 | 10.1:1 | 60% (213) |
| 2020-21 | 378 | 33 | 11.4:1 | 61% (231) |
| 2017-18 | 422 | 36.7 | 11.5:1 | 64% (272) |
| 2015-16 | 435 | 37 | 11.8:1 | 63% (274) |
| 2010-11 | 461 | 34 | 13.6:1 | 66% (305) |
| 2000-01 | 349 | 28 | 12.5:1 | 58% (201) |
| 1990-91 | 451 | 26 | 17.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Gus Birdwell Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 19% (422 to 343); teachers down 21% (36.7 to 28.9).
About Gus Birdwell Elementary School
Families in SPEARMAN, Texas, are served by Gus Birdwell Elementary School, a small elementary school. Its 343 students are spread across pre-K through 5. The typical figure for elementary schools in Texas is about 519 students.
SPEARMAN ISD runs Gus Birdwell Elementary School along with 2 other schools, enrolling 692 students in total.
A majority of students at Gus Birdwell Elementary School, 68%, are Hispanic. Next come 31% White. The county population is about 50% Hispanic. Gus Birdwell Elementary School has a diversity index of 45%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school's student-to-teacher ratio is about 11.9:1, with 28.9 full-time-equivalent teachers. Among elementary schools in Texas, the typical ratio is 15.1:1. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Gus Birdwell Elementary School is 66%. On average, public schools in Hansford County report 55%.
allk12 grades Gus Birdwell Elementary School an A. The grade compares the school only with Texas public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Gus Birdwell Elementary School falls in the middle 80% of Texas schools: 54.8% actual against 45.3% predicted.
Hansford County has about 5,119 residents, and median household income is about $69,441, about 36% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 8% of residents are in poverty. Federal data list 7 public schools in Hansford County, with a combined enrollment of about 1,229.
Spearman Junior High School is the public school closest to Gus Birdwell Elementary School, less than a tenth of a mile away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are 2 other public schools. Gus Birdwell Elementary School is 5th of 9 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
NCES assigns Gus Birdwell Elementary School the locale Rural: Remote, meaning in rural territory far from an urban area.
The number of students declined from 378 to 343 over 4 years.
If you have questions about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Gus Birdwell Elementary School, you can post them here. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Hansford County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
5,119
Census ACS
Median income
$69,441
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
7
1,229 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in SPEARMAN ISD
- Spearman High SchoolHigh · 189 students
- Spearman Junior High SchoolMiddle · 160 students
Other schools in SPEARMAN
- Spearman High SchoolHigh · 189 students
- Spearman Junior High SchoolMiddle · 160 students
Nearby schools
- Spearman Junior High School0.1 mi · 160
- Spearman High School0.6 mi · 189
- Gruver Junior High School12.3 mi · 115
- Gruver High School12.4 mi · 141
- Gruver Elementary School12.4 mi · 153
- Pringle-Morse Schools18.1 mi · 128
Frequently asked questions
About Gus Birdwell Elementary SchoolHow large is Gus Birdwell Elementary School?
Gus Birdwell Elementary School enrolls approximately 343 students in grades PK-05.
Is Gus Birdwell Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Gus Birdwell Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Gus Birdwell Elementary School have?
Gus Birdwell Elementary School employs 29 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.9:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Gus Birdwell Elementary School?
At Gus Birdwell Elementary School, the student body is approximately 31% White, 68% Hispanic, 2% Two or more.
Is Gus Birdwell Elementary School public or private?
Gus Birdwell Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by SPEARMAN ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.