Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
IRENE M GARCIA MIDDLE
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveWhat this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 59 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 40 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 40 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 27 points.
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyWhat 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%.
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25About IRENE M GARCIA MIDDLE
IRENE M GARCIA MIDDLE, an average-sized middle school in MISSION, Texas, overseen by LA JOYA ISD, hosts 601 students, covering grades 6 through 8.
Within LA JOYA ISD, which oversees 36 schools and 22,942 students, IRENE M GARCIA MIDDLE is one campus in the system.
On demographics, IRENE M GARCIA MIDDLE shows that 100% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. That is noticeably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 92%.
In terms of school funding signals, On paper, IRENE M GARCIA MIDDLE has 43 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 14.1:1. The state averages about 14.4:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Around 86% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy.
With demographic context factored in, IRENE M GARCIA MIDDLE sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 36.8%; this one delivers 49.0%.
Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Hidalgo County) shows that median household earnings sit near $54,338, about 21% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 23%. In all, Hidalgo County runs 364 public schools (combined enrollment of about 212,859 students), of which IRENE M GARCIA MIDDLE is one.
E B REYNA EL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts IRENE M GARCIA MIDDLE at 4th of 8; the average score across the group is 46.1%.
The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.
Over the past 7-year window. IRENE M GARCIA MIDDLE's enrollment has ticked down 25% since 2018, when it stood at 806 (now 601). Class-load math has narrowed: from 15.2:1 in 2018 to 14.1:1 in 2025.
On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.
Hidalgo County at a glance
View full county profileQuick facts
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