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What's one thing IRA CROSS JR EL gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
642
Elementary
DISTRICT 694 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·KILLEEN ISD·NCES 482566009456
Ira Cross Jr Elementary School
1910 HERNDON DR, KILLEEN, TX 76543 · (254) 336-2550 · Bell County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL642 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 65% of Texas public elementary schools
- BTest 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.
- CThree-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
14.3:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
81%
522 students
DISTRICT 64% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 85 | 13% |
| Kindergarten | 85 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 94 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 108 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 96 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 93 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 81 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (85) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (81).
Student demographics
68%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · 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% . +30.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
37.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -11.0pp since 2020
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 37 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 30 points since 2020, while math scores are down about 11 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 19.0% | 25.0% | 31.0% | 25.0% |
| Mathematics | 12.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 38.0% |
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% | 37.0% |
| 2024-25 | 54.0% | 52.0% |
| 2023-24 | 48.0% | 54.0% |
| 2022-23 | 47.0% | 35.0% |
| 2021-22 | 50.0% | 54.0% |
| 2020-21 | 14.0% | 48.0% |
% 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
47.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.0%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 39% 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 Ira Cross Jr Elementary School
Ira Cross Jr Elementary School's state test result (47.0% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ira Cross Jr Elementary School this school | 642 | 81.3% | 47.0% |
| S H Crowley Elementary School FORT WORTH | 606 | 78.4% | 40.1% |
| Oakmont Elementary School FORT WORTH | 562 | 81.3% | 40.9% |
| Whispering Pines Elementary School HUMBLE | 608 | 79.6% | 26.8% |
| Hay Branch Elementary School KILLEEN | 522 | 80.3% | 28.4% |
| Gentry Elementary School MESQUITE | 607 | 79.4% | 38.9% |
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 Ira Cross Jr Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Bell County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.0% | #1,741 of 4,401 | #18 of 54 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.0% | #3,246 of 4,466 ▼ 1,783 | #39 of 55 ▼ 32 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.0% | #3,261 of 4,466 ▼ 1,221 | #43 of 55 ▼ 23 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -0.5pp | #1,134 of 3,998 | #18 of 50 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 642 | #1,304 of 4,938 | #23 of 62 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.3:1 | #1,823 of 4,622 | #21 of 57 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.0% | #706 of 4,628 | #30 of 57 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 81.3% | #1,846 of 4,789 | #5 of 59 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.1% | #2,013 of 2,838 | #24 of 33 |
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
642
-34 (-5%) vs 2020
-19% since 2010-11, when it was 794
Student : Teacher
14.3:1
was 15.4:1
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 | 642 | 44.8 | 14.3:1 | 81% (522) |
| 2023-24 | 647 | 43.2 | 15.0:1 | 85% (547) |
| 2022-23 | 623 | 42.9 | 14.5:1 | 75% (469) |
| 2020-21 | 676 | 44 | 15.4:1 | 81% (545) |
| 2017-18 | 714 | 43.1 | 16.6:1 | 82% (587) |
| 2015-16 | 744 | 50 | 14.9:1 | 78% (581) |
| 2010-11 | 794 | 56 | 14.2:1 | 70% (554) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ira Cross Jr Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 10% (714 to 642); teachers up 4% (43.1 to 44.8).
About Ira Cross Jr Elementary School
Ira Cross Jr Elementary School, a medium-sized elementary school, is located in KILLEEN, Texas. The latest federal count shows 642 students in pre-K through 5. Against the 519-student average for elementary schools in Texas, enrollment here is 24% higher.
Ira Cross Jr Elementary School is among 55 schools run by KILLEEN ISD, which serves 42,883 students.
Enrollment at Ira Cross Jr Elementary School is mixed, with Black students the largest group at 44%. The rest of enrollment is 32% Hispanic, 12% multiracial, and 9% White. Census estimates put the Black share of Bell County's population at about 23%. The chance that two students picked at random at Ira Cross Jr Elementary School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 68%.
Federal data list 44.8 full-time-equivalent teachers at Ira Cross Jr Elementary School in 2024-25, for a ratio of 14.3:1. Among elementary schools in Texas, the typical ratio is 15.1:1. The lunch program counts 81% of students at Ira Cross Jr Elementary School as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The rate at public schools in Bell County averages 57%, lower than here.
Ira Cross Jr Elementary School is graded B+ by allk12, scoring above 65% of Texas public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 39.0% at Ira Cross Jr Elementary School; the school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 47.0%.
Census Bureau estimates for Bell County show that median household income is about $68,865, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 27%, and about 11% of people live in poverty. A total of 130 public schools operate in Bell County, serving about 71,041 students.
The shortest distance from Ira Cross Jr Elementary School to another public school is about 0.5 miles, to Gateway Middle School. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. On state test proficiency, Ira Cross Jr Elementary School ranks 2nd in a group of 7 nearby schools.
The school's locale code, City: Mid-size, means it is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
The 2024-25 enrollment of 642 was 5% lower than in 2020-21, when it was 676. Students per teacher fell from 15.4 in 2020-21 to 14.3 in 2024-25.
To ask about school safety, transportation, and start times, start a discussion on this page. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Bell County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
386,897
Census ACS
Median income
$68,865
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
130
71,041 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in KILLEEN ISD
- Harker Heights High SchoolHigh · 2,192 students
- Robert M Shoemaker High SchoolHigh · 2,165 students
- Killeen High SchoolHigh · 2,083 students
- Chaparral High SchoolHigh · 2,031 students
- C E Ellison High SchoolHigh · 1,761 students
- Roy J Smith Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,135 students
Other schools in KILLEEN
- Robert M Shoemaker High SchoolHigh · 2,165 students
- Killeen High SchoolHigh · 2,083 students
- Chaparral High SchoolHigh · 2,031 students
- C E Ellison High SchoolHigh · 1,761 students
- Roy J Smith Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,135 students
- Killeen Elementary SchoolElementary · 1,091 students
Nearby schools
- Gateway Middle School0.5 mi · 48
- Gateway High School0.5 mi · 84
- Manor Middle School1.1 mi · 592
- Killeen High School1.5 mi · 2,083
- Cedar Valley Elementary School1.8 mi · 570
- Harker Heights Elementary School2.0 mi · 706
Frequently asked questions
About Ira Cross Jr Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Ira Cross Jr Elementary School?
Ira Cross Jr Elementary School enrolls approximately 642 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Ira Cross Jr Elementary School serve?
Ira Cross Jr Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Ira Cross Jr Elementary School?
Approximately 14.3:1 students per teacher at Ira Cross Jr Elementary School.
How diverse is Ira Cross Jr Elementary School?
Ira Cross Jr Elementary School reports a student body of 9% White, 32% Hispanic, 44% Black, 0% Asian, 12% Two or more.
What district is Ira Cross Jr Elementary School in?
Ira Cross Jr Elementary School is part of KILLEEN ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.