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What do you wish you knew before starting at IDEA LOS ENCINOS ACADEMY?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
770
Elementary
DISTRICT 657 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 480021114016
IDEA Los Encinos Academy
5400 S WARE RD, MCALLEN, TX 78503 · (956) 429-4150 · Hidalgo County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL770 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
24.4:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.6:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
87%
670 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 | 113 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 122 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 128 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 131 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 141 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 135 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (113) is 16% smaller than its 5th grade class (135).
Student demographics
10%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
44.0%
TX avg 54.5% . -3.0pp since 2021
Mathematics
53.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -5.0pp since 2021
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 44 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 53 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are down about 3 points since 2021, while math scores are down about 5 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 21.0% | 23.0% | 20.0% | 36.0% |
| Mathematics | 21.0% | 32.0% | 25.0% | 22.0% |
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 | 44.0% | 53.0% |
| 2024-25 | 48.0% | 47.0% |
| 2023-24 | 53.0% | 56.0% |
| 2022-23 | 47.0% | 60.0% |
| 2021-22 | 47.0% | 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
49.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.5%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+12.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 49% 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 Los Encinos Academy
IDEA Los Encinos Academy's state test result (49.4% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| IDEA Los Encinos Academy this school | 770 | 87.0% | 49.4% |
| Cedar Creek Elementary School CEDAR CREEK | 775 | 85.3% | 16.5% |
| IDEA Edinburg Academy EDINBURG | 728 | 86.1% | 39.2% |
| H W Schulze Elementary School SAN ANTONIO | 726 | 86.8% | 37.0% |
| Airport Elementary School WESLACO | 786 | 86.3% | 39.7% |
| Colonel Miguel Menchaca Early Childhood Center SAN ANTONIO | 809 | 87.4% | N/A |
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 Los Encinos Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Hidalgo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 49.4% | #1,481 of 4,401 | #53 of 181 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 53.0% | #1,452 of 4,466 ▲ 430 | #63 of 183 ▲ 14 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.0% | #3,200 of 4,466 ▼ 534 | #141 of 183 ▼ 18 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -5.0pp | #647 of 3,998 | #25 of 180 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 770 | #551 of 4,938 | #9 of 192 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 24.4:1 | #4,600 of 4,622 | #183 of 185 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 10.2% | #4,101 of 4,628 | #24 of 185 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 87.0% | #1,386 of 4,789 | #123 of 190 |
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
770
+280 (+57%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
24.4:1
was 28.8:1
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 | 770 | 31.6 | 24.4:1 | 87% (670) |
| 2023-24 | 769 | 31.4 | 24.5:1 | 90% (689) |
| 2022-23 | 743 | 30 | 24.8:1 | 93% (693) |
| 2020-21 | 490 | 17 | 28.8:1 | 90% (443) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for IDEA Los Encinos Academy.
About IDEA Los Encinos Academy
IDEA Los Encinos Academy is a mid-sized elementary school in MCALLEN, Texas. The school teaches kindergarten through 5 and enrolls 770 students. That puts enrollment 48% bigger than the 519-student average for elementary schools in Texas.
IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS has 125 schools; together they serve 79,430 students.
The share of students at IDEA Los Encinos Academy who are Hispanic is 95%. The remaining students are 5% White. Hidalgo County residents are about 92% Hispanic, a similar share. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 10%.
IDEA Los Encinos Academy has 31.6 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 24.4:1. The school's 24.4:1 compares with an average of 15.1:1 for elementary schools in Texas. The school has 87% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Hidalgo County average a similar 85%.
Among Texas public elementary schools, IDEA Los Encinos Academy outscored 71%, which works out to a B+ on the allk12 Grade.
In Texas, IDEA Los Encinos Academy is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 49.4% actual against a predicted 36.5%.
Census data for Hidalgo County show median household income comes to 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. Counting IDEA Los Encinos Academy, Hidalgo County has 364 public schools.
IDEA Los Encinos Academy's nearest public school is IDEA Los Encinos College Preparatory (less than a tenth of a mile). There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. On state test proficiency, IDEA Los Encinos Academy ranks 5th in a group of 9 nearby schools.
The school is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000, according to its NCES locale (City: Mid-size). Federal records list IDEA Los Encinos Academy as a charter school.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, reported enrollment went from 490 to 770. Such a large difference may reflect a change in the grades served. Federal data show the ratio falling from 28.8:1 to 24.4:1.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on athletics, class schedules, and weather closures here. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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 MCALLEN
- McAllen High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Memorial High SchoolHigh · 2,021 students
- Morris Middle SchoolMiddle · 999 students
- Cathey Middle SchoolMiddle · 827 students
- IDEA McAllen College PreparatoryHigh · 820 students
- Gonzalez Elementary SchoolElementary · 818 students
Nearby schools
- IDEA Los Encinos College Preparatory0.0 mi · 753
- Houston Elementary School0.4 mi · 397
- Roosevelt Elementary School1.0 mi · 357
- Ruben Hinojosa Elementary School1.1 mi · 472
- Brown Middle School1.7 mi · 580
- Harry Shimotsu Elementary School1.8 mi · 605
Frequently asked questions
About IDEA Los Encinos AcademyHow many students attend IDEA Los Encinos Academy?
IDEA Los Encinos Academy enrolls approximately 770 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does IDEA Los Encinos Academy serve?
IDEA Los Encinos Academy serves grades KG-05.
How many students per teacher at IDEA Los Encinos Academy?
Approximately 24.4:1 students per teacher at IDEA Los Encinos Academy.
How diverse is IDEA Los Encinos Academy?
IDEA Los Encinos Academy reports a student body of 5% White, 95% Hispanic, 1% Asian.
What district is IDEA Los Encinos Academy in?
IDEA Los Encinos Academy is part of IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.