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What's one thing IDEA ACADEMY gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
744
Elementary
DISTRICT 657 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 480021111804
IDEA Academy
401 S 1ST ST, DONNA, TX 78537 · (956) 464-0203 · Hidalgo County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL744 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
21.6:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.6:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
97%
724 students
DISTRICT 83% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 85 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 123 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 132 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 137 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 132 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 135 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (85) is 37% smaller than its 5th grade class (135).
Student demographics
9%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 27% · 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
43.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +10.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
37.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +21.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 43 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 37 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 10 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 | 19.0% | 24.0% | 25.0% | 32.0% |
| Mathematics | 13.0% | 24.0% | 23.0% | 40.0% |
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 | 43.0% | 37.0% |
| 2024-25 | 47.0% | 34.0% |
| 2023-24 | 45.0% | 33.0% |
| 2022-23 | 44.0% | 43.0% |
| 2021-22 | 47.0% | 35.0% |
| 2020-21 | 33.0% | 16.0% |
% 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
36.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.1%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 36% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 32% 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 IDEA Academy
IDEA Academy's state test result (36.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| IDEA Academy this school | 744 | 97.3% | 36.1% |
| IDEA Palmview Academy MISSION | 705 | 97.9% | 30.3% |
| Julian T Saldivar Elementary School DALLAS | 755 | 98.8% | 24.6% |
| IDEA Academy Alamo ALAMO | 698 | 98.1% | 36.3% |
| Marcus Leadership Academy DALLAS | 718 | 98.5% | 25.7% |
| Augusto Guerra Elementary School ALAMO | 731 | 96.7% | 47.8% |
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 IDEA Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Hidalgo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 36.1% | #3,057 of 4,401 | #144 of 181 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.0% | #3,171 of 4,466 ▲ 150 | #151 of 183 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 43.0% | #3,295 of 4,466 ▼ 515 | #146 of 183 ▼ 17 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -3.5pp | #773 of 3,998 | #31 of 180 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 744 | #655 of 4,938 | #12 of 192 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.6:1 | #4,533 of 4,622 | #173 of 185 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 8.5% | #4,165 of 4,628 | #33 of 185 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.3% | #249 of 4,789 | #23 of 190 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -17.6% | #1,370 of 2,838 | #66 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
744
-150 (-17%) vs 2020
+19% since 2010-11, when it was 626
Student : Teacher
21.6:1
was 14.4:1
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 | 744 | 34.5 | 21.6:1 | 97% (724) |
| 2023-24 | 767 | 32 | 24.0:1 | 98% (750) |
| 2022-23 | 803 | 32.8 | 24.5:1 | 99% (793) |
| 2020-21 | 894 | 62 | 14.4:1 | 99% (883) |
| 2017-18 | 903 | 42.9 | 21.0:1 | 97% (873) |
| 2015-16 | 687 | 26 | 26.4:1 | 94% (643) |
| 2010-11 | 626 | 31 | 20.2:1 | 86% (537) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for IDEA Academy.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (903 to 744); teachers down 20% (42.9 to 34.5).
About IDEA Academy
Located in DONNA, Texas, IDEA Academy is a medium-sized elementary school. A total of 744 students attend the school, which covers kindergarten through 5. Against the 519-student average for elementary schools in Texas, enrollment here is 43% higher.
IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS has 79,430 students in 125 schools, and IDEA Academy is one of those schools.
Hispanic students are the large majority at IDEA Academy, with 96% of enrollment. The next largest groups are 4% White. The Hispanic share in Hidalgo County as a whole is similar, at about 92%. The chance that two students picked at random at IDEA Academy belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 9%.
IDEA Academy's 34.5 full-time-equivalent teachers put its ratio at 21.6:1. For comparison, elementary schools in Texas average 15.1:1. Eligibility for subsidized school meals is 97%. The gap from the 85% average for public schools in Hidalgo County is 12 points.
In Texas, IDEA Academy is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 36.1% actual against a predicted 32.1%.
Census Bureau estimates for Hidalgo County show that median household income is about $54,338, roughly 21% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 23% of residents live below the federal poverty line. IDEA Academy is one of 364 public schools in Hidalgo County, which together enroll about 212,859 students.
Nearby, IDEA College Prep is less than a tenth of a mile away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, IDEA Academy places 7th out of 8 schools in its immediate area.
Locale data from NCES put IDEA Academy in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more (Suburb: Large). It is a charter school, open to the public and funded by taxpayers.
Enrollment was 894 in 2020-21 and 744 in 2024-25, a decrease of 150 students. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 14.4:1 in 2020-21 to 21.6:1 in 2024-25.
The discussion area below is open to posts about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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 IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
- IDEA College Preparatory PharrHigh · 848 students
- IDEA Montopolis College PreparatoryHigh · 835 students
- IDEA College PrepHigh · 823 students
- IDEA McAllen College PreparatoryHigh · 820 students
- IDEA Riverview College PreparatoryHigh · 813 students
- IDEA College Preparatory MissionHigh · 798 students
Other schools in DONNA
- Donna High SchoolHigh · 1,992 students
- Donna North High SchoolHigh · 1,974 students
- Veterans Middle SchoolMiddle · 866 students
- IDEA College PrepHigh · 823 students
- Maria Alicia P Munoz Elementary SchoolElementary · 688 students
- W A Todd Middle SchoolMiddle · 670 students
Nearby schools
- IDEA College Prep0.0 mi · 823
- M Rivas Pri Discovery Academy0.3 mi · 413
- J W Caceres Discovery Int Academy0.3 mi · 299
- A P Solis Middle School0.6 mi · 646
- A M Ochoa Elementary School0.8 mi · 580
- Le Noir Elementary School1.0 mi · 457
Frequently asked questions
About IDEA AcademyWhat is the total enrollment at IDEA Academy?
IDEA Academy enrolls approximately 744 students in grades KG-05.
Is IDEA Academy an elementary, middle, or high school?
IDEA Academy is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at IDEA Academy?
The student-to-teacher ratio at IDEA Academy is approximately 21.6:1 (35 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at IDEA Academy?
At IDEA Academy, the student body is approximately 4% White, 96% Hispanic, 0% Black.
Who oversees IDEA Academy?
IDEA Academy is overseen by IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS in Hidalgo County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.