HARDIN EL

Located at 11285 HWY 146N, in HARDIN, Texas, HARDIN EL is a mid-sized elementary-level community that serves 564 students (grades pre-K through 5), one of the schools within HARDIN ISD.

HARDIN EL is one of 3 schools operated by HARDIN ISD, a district that instructs 1,257 students overall.

For racial and ethnic makeup, HARDIN EL records that the largest single group is White, at 70% of enrollment. Other groups include 23% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, 3% Black. By comparison, Liberty County as a whole is about 57% White, so the school skews noticeably more White than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, The school lists 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 16.4:1. The state averages around 15.1:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 71% of students at HARDIN EL qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Liberty County runs at roughly 80%, so the school's eligibility rate is lower than the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), HARDIN EL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 43.0%, the actual is 32.2%, a residual of -10.8 points.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Liberty County put the typical household earns roughly $68,703 per year, about 12% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 16%. Across Liberty County's 41 public schools (combined enrollment of about 27,599 students), HARDIN EL is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: HARDIN J H, around 0.6 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around HARDIN EL. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), HARDIN EL ranks 6th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 36.6%.

The school occupies a low-density site.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 27%: 769 students in 2018 compared to 564 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 11% to 23% across the same window.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.