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SCHOOL COMMUNITY·IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 480021111952

IDEA Frontier College Preparatory

2800 S DAKOTA AVE, BROWNSVILLE, TX 78521 · (956) 541-2002 · Cameron County
GRADES 06–12HIGH12-CITYCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL781 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 53% of Texas public high schools
  • C+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.
  • 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 high schools

Enrollment
781
High
DISTRICT 676 · STATE 796
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
50 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.1:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
88%
690 students
DISTRICT 83% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25

GradeStudentsShare
Grade 613617%
Grade 713517%
Grade 812716%
Grade 911515%
Grade 1010914%
Grade 11729%
Grade 128711%
Student demographics
5%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 27% · STATE 63% · US 70%
White
213%
DISTRICT 5% · STATE 24% · US 43%
Hispanic
76097%
DISTRICT 85% · STATE 54% · US 30%
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
Male
38549%
Female
39651%

Discussions

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Test scores

STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or Above
Reading
55.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +8.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
45.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +16.0pp since 2020

What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 55 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 45 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 8 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 16 points.

Performance levels, 2025-26

SubjectMasters Grade LevelMeets Grade LevelApproaches Grade LevelDid Not Meet Grade Level
Reading22.0%33.0%22.0%23.0%
Mathematics15.0%30.0%31.0%24.0%
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 yearReadingMathematics
2025-2655.0%45.0%
2024-2558.0%44.0%
2023-2465.0%45.0%
2022-2357.0%40.0%
2021-2258.0%47.0%
2020-2147.0%29.0%
% 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 · methodology
Tier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of TX schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
51.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.0%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+15.9pp
above demographic expectation

What this means: About 52% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 36% 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 16 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 College Preparatory

IDEA Frontier College Preparatory's state test result (51.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
IDEA Frontier College Preparatory this school78188.3%51.9%
IDEA Weslaco Pike College Preparatory
WESLACO
75887.1%57.5%
IDEA College Preparatory San Juan
SAN JUAN
74189.2%42.4%
Mountain View High School
EL PASO
77587.0%50.7%
IDEA Rio Grande City College Preparatory
RIO GRANDE CITY
69590.1%50.7%
Harmony School of Excellence - Laredo
LAREDO
67188.5%63.8%
Matched among Texas high 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 College Preparatory ranks

Among high schools
MeasureThis schoolIn TexasIn Cameron County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
51.9%#754 of 1,385#13 of 27
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
45.0%#655 of 1,425
▼ 69
#11 of 27
▲ 1
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
55.0%#778 of 1,425
▼ 160
#13 of 27
▼ 2
3-year test score change
ranked biggest gain first
+1.5pp#1,039 of 1,184#23 of 26
Enrollment
ranked largest first
781#698 of 2,107#15 of 46
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
15.6:1#835 of 1,344#18 of 26
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
5.2%#1,266 of 1,346#15 of 26
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
88.3%#233 of 1,522#12 of 28
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked fastest growth first
+0.5%#657 of 672#10 of 10
Ranked against other public high 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 2024-25
Enrollment
781
-16 (-2%) vs 2020
+23% since 2010-11, when it was 636
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
was 18.5:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-257815015.6:188% (690)
2023-247545015.1:193% (699)
2022-2375949.915.2:191% (689)
2020-217974318.5:192% (735)
2017-1877746.416.8:187% (679)
2015-167885015.8:187% (683)
2010-116364115.5:186% (546)
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for IDEA Frontier College Preparatory.

Since 2017-18: students up 1% (777 to 781); teachers up 8% (46.4 to 50).

About IDEA Frontier College Preparatory

IDEA Frontier College Preparatory is a medium-sized high school serving families in BROWNSVILLE, Texas. Enrolled students number 781 students, in grades 6 through 12.

IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS runs IDEA Frontier College Preparatory along with 124 other schools, enrolling 79,430 students in total.

The student body at IDEA Frontier College Preparatory is 97% Hispanic. Other groups make up 3% White. County-wide, 89% of Cameron County residents are Hispanic. Pick two students at random and there is a 5% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.

The count of teachers at IDEA Frontier College Preparatory is 50 full-time equivalents, for a ratio of 15.6:1. That matches the 15.1:1 average for high schools in Texas fairly closely. Around 88% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

Measured against Texas public high schools, IDEA Frontier College Preparatory receives a B-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.

On BeatsExpectations, which compares test results with what a school's student poverty level would predict, IDEA Frontier College Preparatory ranks in the top 10% in Texas. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 51.9%, against a prediction of 36.0%.

Cameron County has about 426,120 residents, and the median household income is $52,601, 22% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 21% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Besides IDEA Frontier College Preparatory, Cameron County has 186 other public schools.

The closest public school to IDEA Frontier College Preparatory is IDEA Frontier Academy, less than a tenth of a mile away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among its closest neighbors with test data, IDEA Frontier College Preparatory is 1st of 9 on proficiency.

NCES lists the school's locale as City: Mid-size. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000. IDEA Frontier College Preparatory is a publicly funded charter school.

Enrollment went from 797 in 2020-21 to 781 in 2024-25, a change of 16 students. Federal data show the ratio falling from 18.5:1 to 15.6:1.

Community posts for IDEA Frontier College Preparatory can cover school safety, transportation, and start times. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.

Cameron County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
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

School name
IDEA Frontier College Preparatory
District
IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Address
2800 S DAKOTA AVE, BROWNSVILLE, TX 78521
Phone
(956) 541-2002
County
Cameron County
Level
High
Grade range
06–12
Total enrollment
781
Teachers (FTE)
50
Student–teacher ratio
15.6:1
Free and reduced lunch
690 (88%)
Locale
12-City: Mid-size
NCES ID
480021111952
Charter school
Yes
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Other schools in BROWNSVILLE
Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About IDEA Frontier College Preparatory
How many students attend IDEA Frontier College Preparatory?
IDEA Frontier College Preparatory enrolls approximately 781 students in grades 06-12.
Is IDEA Frontier College Preparatory an elementary, middle, or high school?
IDEA Frontier College Preparatory is a high school covering grades 06-12.
How many teachers does IDEA Frontier College Preparatory have?
IDEA Frontier College Preparatory employs 50 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.6:1.
What is the student diversity at IDEA Frontier College Preparatory?
Student demographics at IDEA Frontier College Preparatory are roughly 3% White, 97% Hispanic.
Who oversees IDEA Frontier College Preparatory?
IDEA Frontier College Preparatory is overseen by IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS in Cameron County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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