1
What do you wish you knew before starting at IDEA HARLINGEN ACADEMY?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
651
Elementary
DISTRICT 657 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 480021114099
IDEA Harlingen Academy
24240 CHESTER PARK RD, HARLINGEN, TX 78552 · (956) 377-8000 · Cameron County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY22-SUBURBCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL651 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 72% 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.
- 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.
- A-Three-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
21.1:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.6:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
85%
552 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 | 71 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 87 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 123 | 19% |
| Grade 3 | 137 | 21% |
| Grade 4 | 121 | 19% |
| Grade 5 | 112 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (71) is 37% smaller than its 5th grade class (112).
Student demographics
16%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
61.0%
TX avg 54.5% . -6.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
42.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -16.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 42 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are down about 6 points since 2020, while math scores are down about 16 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 24.0% | 37.0% | 19.0% | 20.0% |
| Mathematics | 16.0% | 26.0% | 26.0% | 32.0% |
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 | 61.0% | 42.0% |
| 2024-25 | 52.0% | 43.0% |
| 2023-24 | 53.0% | 45.0% |
| 2022-23 | 39.0% | 32.0% |
| 2021-22 | 56.0% | 75.0% |
| 2020-21 | 67.0% | 58.0% |
% 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
45.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.5%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 45% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 37% 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 Harlingen Academy
IDEA Harlingen Academy's state test result (45.1% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| IDEA Harlingen Academy this school | 651 | 84.8% | 45.1% |
| West Birdville Elementary School HALTOM CITY | 665 | 86.2% | 24.7% |
| Julian C Gallardo Elementary School SAN ANTONIO | 602 | 84.1% | 40.7% |
| Lauro Cavazos Elementary School ODESSA | 614 | 86.8% | 19.4% |
| IDEA Rio Vista Academy SOCORRO | 696 | 86.6% | 33.9% |
| Schallert Elementary School ALICE | 592 | 83.8% | 54.3% |
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 Harlingen Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Cameron County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 45.1% | #1,954 of 4,401 | #47 of 93 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 42.0% | #2,576 of 4,466 ▼ 280 | #75 of 93 ▼ 7 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 61.0% | #1,308 of 4,466 ▲ 883 | #25 of 93 ▲ 30 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +16.0pp | #772 of 3,998 | #17 of 93 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 651 | #1,240 of 4,938 | #17 of 95 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.1:1 | #4,505 of 4,622 | #91 of 93 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 15.8% | #3,898 of 4,628 | #2 of 93 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 84.8% | #1,575 of 4,789 | #63 of 94 |
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
651
+334 (+105%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
21.1:1
was 19.8:1
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 | 651 | 30.9 | 21.1:1 | 85% (552) |
| 2023-24 | 636 | 30.2 | 21.0:1 | 86% (547) |
| 2022-23 | 607 | 29.8 | 20.4:1 | 90% (545) |
| 2020-21 | 317 | 16 | 19.8:1 | 83% (264) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for IDEA Harlingen Academy.
About IDEA Harlingen Academy
IDEA Harlingen Academy is classified as an elementary school. It is located in HARLINGEN, Texas. The latest federal count shows 651 students in kindergarten through 5. The average for elementary schools in Texas is about 519 students, so this school is 25% above average.
The district, IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS, operates 125 schools serving 79,430 students.
IDEA Harlingen Academy's enrollment is 92% Hispanic. The next largest groups are 6% White. County-wide, about 89% of residents are Hispanic. The school's diversity index is 16%, meaning two students picked at random have a 16% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The teaching staff at IDEA Harlingen Academy is 30.9 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 21.1:1. The school has more students per teacher than the 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas. About 85% of students, or 552, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. For comparison, public schools in Cameron County average 84%.
allk12 grades IDEA Harlingen Academy a B+. The grade compares the school only with Texas public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, IDEA Harlingen Academy would be expected to post about 37.5%. Its actual average proficiency rate on state tests is 45.1%.
Within Cameron County, the median household income is $52,601, about 22% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 21%. In all, Cameron County has 187 public schools and roughly 97,392 students.
The nearest other public school, IDEA Harlingen College Preparatory, is less than a tenth of a mile away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Among the 9 closest schools with test data, this one included, IDEA Harlingen Academy ranks 6th on average proficiency.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Suburb: Mid-size, meaning it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population between 100,000 and 250,000. IDEA Harlingen Academy is a charter school, a type of public school that operates under a charter.
Enrollment was 317 in 2020-21 and 651 in 2024-25. Large swings like this can come from changes to the grades a school serves. By 2024-25, the school had 21.1 students per teacher, compared with 19.8 in 2020-21.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for IDEA Harlingen Academy covering things like sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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 HARLINGEN
- Harlingen High SchoolHigh · 2,433 students
- Harlingen H S - SouthHigh · 2,019 students
- Dr Abraham P Cano Freshman AcademyCombined · 1,035 students
- Moises Vela Middle SchoolMiddle · 761 students
- Treasure Hills Elementary SchoolElementary · 758 students
- Gutierrez Middle SchoolMiddle · 747 students
Nearby schools
- IDEA Harlingen College Preparatory0.0 mi · 457
- Gutierrez Middle School0.2 mi · 747
- Jubilee Harlingen1.3 mi · 377
- Dr Abraham P Cano Freshman Academy1.3 mi · 1,035
- Crockett Elementary School1.7 mi · 234
- Wilson Elementary School1.9 mi · 373
Frequently asked questions
About IDEA Harlingen AcademyHow many students attend IDEA Harlingen Academy?
IDEA Harlingen Academy enrolls approximately 651 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does IDEA Harlingen Academy serve?
IDEA Harlingen Academy serves grades KG-05.
How many students per teacher at IDEA Harlingen Academy?
Approximately 21.1:1 students per teacher at IDEA Harlingen Academy.
What is the racial breakdown of students at IDEA Harlingen Academy?
At IDEA Harlingen Academy, the student body is approximately 6% White, 92% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian.
Is IDEA Harlingen Academy public or private?
IDEA Harlingen 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.