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What's the most underrated thing about HOWARD J H that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
918
Middle
DISTRICT 844 · STATE 643
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAXAHACHIE ISD·NCES 484473011375
Howard Junior High School
265 BROADHEAD RD, WAXAHACHIE, TX 75165 · (972) 923-4771 · Ellis County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL918 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 41% of Texas public middle schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- AThree-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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
55 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.0:1 · STATE 14.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
50%
461 students
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 340 | 37% |
| Grade 7 | 298 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 280 | 31% |
Student demographics
69%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
51.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +29.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
47.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +21.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 51 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 47 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 29 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 21 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 24.0% | 27.0% | 24.0% | 25.0% |
| Mathematics | 21.0% | 26.0% | 26.0% | 27.0% |
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 | 51.0% | 47.0% |
| 2024-25 | 50.0% | 41.0% |
| 2023-24 | 52.0% | 38.0% |
| 2022-23 | 32.0% | 25.0% |
| 2021-22 | 30.0% | 20.0% |
| 2020-21 | 22.0% | 26.0% |
% 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
41.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.2%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 42% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 52% 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 Howard Junior High School
Howard Junior High School's state test result (41.8% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Junior High School this school | 918 | 50.2% | 41.8% |
| Audie Murphy Middle School FORT CAVAZOS | 768 | 51.3% | 40.2% |
| S C Lee Junior High School COPPERAS COVE | 932 | 54.4% | 45.4% |
| Dickinson Junior High School TEXAS CITY | 1,060 | 45.7% | 46.3% |
| Nolan Middle School HARKER HEIGHTS | 1,068 | 47.8% | 47.4% |
| Frank Seale Middle School MIDLOTHIAN | 726 | 53.3% | 45.0% |
Matched among Texas middle 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 Howard Junior High School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Ellis County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.8% | #848 of 1,635 | #10 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 47.0% | #658 of 1,670 ▲ 185 | #5 of 14 ▲ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 51.0% | #1,020 of 1,670 ▼ 52 | #8 of 14 ▲ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +20.5pp | #266 of 1,570 | #5 of 13 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 918 | #376 of 1,749 | #4 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.7:1 | #1,256 of 1,542 | #9 of 13 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.3% | #186 of 1,543 | #2 of 13 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.2% | #1,142 of 1,648 | #9 of 14 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.7% | #676 of 942 | N/A |
Ranked against other public middle 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
918
+274 (+43%) vs 2020
+72% since 2010-11, when it was 534
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
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 | 918 | 55.1 | 16.7:1 | 50% (461) |
| 2023-24 | 786 | 57 | 13.8:1 | 47% (369) |
| 2022-23 | 758 | 50.4 | 15.0:1 | 49% (370) |
| 2020-21 | 644 | 52 | 12.4:1 | 43% (275) |
| 2017-18 | 1,005 | 65.9 | 15.3:1 | 35% (355) |
| 2015-16 | 846 | 64 | 13.2:1 | 37% (317) |
| 2010-11 | 534 | 36 | 14.8:1 | 52% (278) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Howard Junior High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 9% (1,005 to 918); teachers down 16% (65.9 to 55.1).
About Howard Junior High School
Howard Junior High School operates as a medium-sized middle school in WAXAHACHIE, Texas. School enrollment was 918 students in 2024-25, in grades 6 through 8. The average among middle schools in Texas is roughly 643 students; this school is 43% above that.
WAXAHACHIE ISD runs 18 schools with a combined 11,196 students. Howard Junior High School is one of them.
At Howard Junior High School, the largest share of students is Hispanic, at 39%. The school is also 31% White, 25% Black, and 5% multiracial. That is higher than the 28% Hispanic share among all Ellis County residents. The school's diversity index is 69%, meaning two students picked at random have a 69% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The school employs the equivalent of 55.1 full-time teachers, for a ratio of 16.7:1. That is higher than the 14.4:1 average for middle schools in Texas. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 50%. For comparison, public schools in Ellis County average 51%.
The allk12 Grade for Howard Junior High School is C+. Compared with Texas public middle schools, the school scored higher than 41% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Howard Junior High School posts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 41.8%, compared with a predicted 52.2%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of Texas schools on BeatsExpectations.
Ellis County census figures show that the median household income is $99,595, roughly 30% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 83 public schools in Ellis County, enrolling about 46,344 students in all.
Felty Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles away. Within five miles of Howard Junior High School, there are at least 8 other public schools. On proficiency, Howard Junior High School is behind the 59.3% nearby average, ranking 4th of 4.
In the federal locale system, Howard Junior High School is coded Suburb: Large, for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Howard Junior High School had 644 students in 2020-21 and 918 in 2024-25, according to federal records. Those counts may cover different grade spans. Its ratio of students to teachers was 12.4:1 in 2020-21, and 16.7:1 in 2024-25.
The Howard Junior High School community page is open for posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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
- Finley Junior High SchoolMiddle · 839 students
- Coleman Junior High SchoolMiddle · 775 students
- Wedgeworth Elementary SchoolElementary · 594 students
- Simpson Elementary SchoolElementary · 592 students
- Marvin Biomedical AcademyElementary · 535 students
Other schools in WAXAHACHIE
- Waxahachie High SchoolHigh · 3,056 students
- Life H S WaxahachieHigh · 1,114 students
- Finley Junior High SchoolMiddle · 839 students
- Coleman Junior High SchoolMiddle · 775 students
- Wedgeworth Elementary SchoolElementary · 594 students
- Simpson Elementary SchoolElementary · 592 students
Other Howard Junior High schools
One other US public school is named Howard Junior High. Howard Junior High School is the largest of the 2.
- Howard Jr. High - 05Howard, SD · 75 students
Nearby schools
- Felty Elementary School0.5 mi · 471
- Finley Junior High School1.0 mi · 839
- Ellis Co JJAEP1.2 mi · 1
- Ellis Co JJAEP1.2 mi · 1
- Ellis Co JJAEP1.2 mi · 3
- Ellis Co JJAEP1.2 mi · 6
Frequently asked questions
About Howard Junior High SchoolHow many students attend Howard Junior High School?
Howard Junior High School enrolls approximately 918 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Howard Junior High School serve?
Howard Junior High School serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Howard Junior High School?
Approximately 16.7:1 students per teacher at Howard Junior High School.
What is the student diversity at Howard Junior High School?
Student demographics at Howard Junior High School are roughly 31% White, 39% Hispanic, 25% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Howard Junior High School?
Howard Junior High School is overseen by WAXAHACHIE ISD in Ellis County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.