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What's something IDEA FRONTIER ACADEMY does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
675
Elementary
DISTRICT 657 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 480021111384
IDEA Frontier Academy
2800 S DAKOTA AVE, BROWNSVILLE, TX 78521 · (956) 541-2002 · Cameron County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL675 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 71% 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.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- DThree-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
21.0:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.6:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
93%
626 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 | 79 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 112 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 125 | 19% |
| Grade 3 | 128 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 111 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 120 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (79) is 34% smaller than its 5th grade class (120).
Student demographics
7%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% . +15.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
43.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +19.0pp 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 43 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 15 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 19 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 22.0% | 21.0% | 22.0% | 35.0% |
| Mathematics | 13.0% | 30.0% | 28.0% | 29.0% |
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% | 43.0% |
| 2024-25 | 53.0% | 48.0% |
| 2023-24 | 57.0% | 47.0% |
| 2022-23 | 55.0% | 48.0% |
| 2021-22 | 59.0% | 54.0% |
| 2020-21 | 28.0% | 24.0% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of TX schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
49.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.1%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+15.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 49% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 34% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 15 points, placing it in Texas's top 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 Frontier Academy
IDEA Frontier Academy's state test result (49.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| IDEA Frontier Academy this school | 675 | 92.7% | 49.2% |
| IDEA Academy Mission MISSION | 664 | 93.4% | 44.9% |
| Burns Elementary School BROWNSVILLE | 651 | 93.7% | 60.6% |
| Carroll T Welch Elementary School EL PASO | 676 | 94.1% | 33.8% |
| Charles Graebner Elementary School SAN ANTONIO | 651 | 93.7% | 17.8% |
| IDEA North Mission Academy MISSION | 719 | 92.5% | 42.6% |
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 Frontier Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Cameron County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 49.2% | #1,501 of 4,401 | #34 of 93 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 43.0% | #2,463 of 4,466 ▼ 696 | #71 of 93 ▼ 25 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 43.0% | #3,294 of 4,466 ▼ 1,209 | #80 of 93 ▼ 31 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -8.5pp | #414 of 3,998 | #6 of 93 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 675 | #1,076 of 4,938 | #14 of 95 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.0:1 | #4,498 of 4,622 | #90 of 93 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 6.9% | #4,232 of 4,628 | #35 of 93 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 92.7% | #766 of 4,789 | #39 of 94 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -19.5% | #1,211 of 2,838 | #29 of 64 |
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
675
-209 (-24%) vs 2020
+16% since 2010-11, when it was 580
Student : Teacher
21.0:1
was 17.7:1
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 | 675 | 32.2 | 21.0:1 | 93% (626) |
| 2023-24 | 688 | 30.9 | 22.2:1 | 95% (654) |
| 2022-23 | 818 | 34.2 | 23.9:1 | 94% (773) |
| 2020-21 | 884 | 50 | 17.7:1 | 94% (831) |
| 2017-18 | 838 | 38.2 | 21.9:1 | 92% (769) |
| 2015-16 | 711 | 22 | 32.3:1 | 92% (656) |
| 2010-11 | 580 | 28 | 20.7:1 | 86% (500) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for IDEA Frontier Academy.
Since 2017-18: students down 19% (838 to 675); teachers down 16% (38.2 to 32.2).
About IDEA Frontier Academy
IDEA Frontier Academy is a medium-sized elementary school in BROWNSVILLE, Texas. The student body numbers 675 students, from kindergarten through 5. Average enrollment for elementary schools in Texas is about 519, so this school runs 30% above that.
Besides IDEA Frontier Academy, IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS runs 124 other schools. The district enrolls 79,430 students.
Federal enrollment data show IDEA Frontier Academy is 96% Hispanic. Enrollment also includes 3% White. The school's diversity index is 7%, meaning two students picked at random have a 7% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
With 32.2 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at IDEA Frontier Academy was 21.0:1. On average, elementary schools in Texas have 15.1:1, compared with 21.0:1 here. IDEA Frontier Academy's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 93%. On average, public schools in Cameron County report 84%.
allk12 grades IDEA Frontier Academy a B+. The grade compares the school only with Texas public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
The BeatsExpectations model predicts 34.1% for IDEA Frontier Academy, given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The actual figure is 49.2%. The 15.1-point gap ranks in the top 10% of Texas schools.
Cameron County has about 426,120 residents, and the median household income is $52,601, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 22%, and about 21% of people live in poverty. Besides IDEA Frontier Academy, Cameron County has 186 other public schools.
Of nearby public schools, IDEA Frontier College Preparatory is the closest, at less than a tenth of a mile. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of IDEA Frontier Academy. On proficiency, IDEA Frontier Academy is ahead of the 44.4% nearby average, ranking 2nd of 9.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Mid-size: inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000. IDEA Frontier Academy is a public charter school.
Enrollment at IDEA Frontier Academy dropped 24% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, from 884 to 675 students. Federal data show the ratio rising from 17.7:1 to 21.0:1.
Parents and students can post about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at IDEA Frontier Academy. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Cameron County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
426,120
Census ACS
Median income
$52,601
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
21%
Below federal line
Schools in county
187
97,392 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 BROWNSVILLE
- Veterans Memorial Early College High SchoolHigh · 2,216 students
- Rivera Early College High SchoolHigh · 2,150 students
- Hanna Early College High SchoolHigh · 2,039 students
- Lopez Early College High SchoolHigh · 1,739 students
- Pace Early College High SchoolHigh · 1,621 students
- Porter Early College High SchoolHigh · 1,543 students
Nearby schools
- IDEA Frontier College Preparatory0.0 mi · 781
- Lopez Early College High School0.3 mi · 1,739
- Garza at Southmost Elementary School1.0 mi · 524
- Besteiro Middle School1.0 mi · 558
- Aiken Elementary School1.1 mi · 630
- Palm Grove Elementary School1.4 mi · 294
Frequently asked questions
About IDEA Frontier AcademyWhat is the total enrollment at IDEA Frontier Academy?
IDEA Frontier Academy enrolls approximately 675 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does IDEA Frontier Academy serve?
IDEA Frontier Academy serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at IDEA Frontier Academy?
Approximately 21.0:1 students per teacher at IDEA Frontier Academy.
How diverse is IDEA Frontier Academy?
IDEA Frontier Academy reports a student body of 3% White, 96% Hispanic, 0% Two or more.
Is IDEA Frontier Academy public or private?
IDEA Frontier Academy is a public K-12 school operated as a charter, overseen by IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.