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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at J H HINES EL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
379
Elementary
DISTRICT 474 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WACO ISD·NCES 484428005039
J H Hines Elementary School
301 GARRISON ST, WACO, TX 76704 · (254) 753-1362 · McLennan County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL379 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 0% of Texas public elementary schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- FThree-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
19.4:1
19 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
373 students
DISTRICT 89% · 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 | 51 | 13% |
| Kindergarten | 49 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 55 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 61 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 60 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 52 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 51 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (49) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (51).
Student demographics
47%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
23.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +15.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
10.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -5.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 23 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 10 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 15 points since 2020, 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 | 6.0% | 17.0% | 17.0% | 60.0% |
| Mathematics | 3.0% | 7.0% | 13.0% | 77.0% |
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 | 23.0% | 10.0% |
| 2024-25 | 19.0% | 12.0% |
| 2023-24 | 23.0% | 15.0% |
| 2022-23 | 44.0% | 33.0% |
| 2021-22 | 8.0% | 8.0% |
| 2020-21 | 8.0% | 15.0% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of TX schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
15.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
31.7%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-16.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 15% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 32% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 J H Hines Elementary School
J H Hines Elementary School's state test result (15.3% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| J H Hines Elementary School this school | 379 | 98.4% | 15.3% |
| Essence Preparatory Charter School SAN ANTONIO | 365 | 99.5% | 15.1% |
| Fonwood Early Childhood Center HOUSTON | 405 | 100.0% | N/A |
| Thomas L Marsalis El Steam Academy DALLAS | 392 | 96.2% | 45.1% |
| Charles Rice Learning Center DALLAS | 427 | 98.4% | 51.5% |
| Whidby Elementary School HOUSTON | 369 | 94.9% | 29.4% |
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 J H Hines Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In McLennan County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 15.3% | #4,366 of 4,401 | #40 of 41 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 10.0% | #4,459 of 4,466 ▼ 23 | #41 of 41 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 23.0% | #4,428 of 4,466 ▼ 5 | #39 of 41 ▲ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -22.0pp | #53 of 3,998 | #2 of 40 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 379 | #3,670 of 4,938 | #31 of 49 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.4:1 | #4,405 of 4,622 | #45 of 45 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.9% | #2,652 of 4,628 | #37 of 45 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 98.4% | #136 of 4,789 | #2 of 48 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -24.7% | #803 of 2,838 | #3 of 28 |
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
379
-74 (-16%) vs 2020
-7% since 1990-91, when it was 406
Student : Teacher
19.4:1
was 12.9:1
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 | 379 | 19.5 | 19.4:1 | 98% (373) |
| 2023-24 | 395 | 24.1 | 16.4:1 | 99% (392) |
| 2022-23 | 406 | 23.8 | 17.1:1 | 98% (397) |
| 2020-21 | 453 | 35 | 12.9:1 | 99% (450) |
| 2017-18 | 503 | 36 | 14.0:1 | 97% (487) |
| 2015-16 | 552 | 32 | 17.3:1 | 96% (532) |
| 2010-11 | 635 | 40 | 15.9:1 | 94% (600) |
| 2000-01 | 384 | 24 | 16.0:1 | 95% (365) |
| 1990-91 | 406 | 30 | 13.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for J H Hines Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 25% (503 to 379); teachers down 46% (36 to 19.5).
About J H Hines Elementary School
J H Hines Elementary School is an elementary school with a street address in WACO, Texas. Enrollment is 379 students in 2024-25, and the school serves pre-K through 5. Against the 519-student average for elementary schools in Texas, enrollment here is 27% lower.
J H Hines Elementary School is one of the 24 schools that make up WACO ISD (13,476 students in total).
Black students account for 69% of enrollment at J H Hines Elementary School. The remaining students are 22% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, and 3% White. Census figures show McLennan County is about 14% Black. The chance that two students picked at random at J H Hines Elementary School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 47%.
The school has about 19.4 students per teacher and 19.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average ratio among elementary schools in Texas is 15.1:1, lower than at this school. About 98% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. That is higher than the 62% average for public schools in McLennan County.
allk12 grades J H Hines Elementary School an F. The grade compares the school only with Texas public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
J H Hines Elementary School is in the bottom 10% of Texas schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 31.7%. The school's actual rate is 15.3%, 16.4 points lower.
J H Hines Elementary School is located in McLennan County, where median household income is about $66,643, 29% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of people live in poverty. Federal data list 124 public schools in McLennan County, with a combined enrollment of about 45,703.
Nearby, Quinn Campus Public Middle School is about 0.2 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 30.1%; J H Hines Elementary School's is 15.3%, ranking 5th of 6.
Federal records code the school's setting as City: Mid-size.
J H Hines Elementary School saw enrollment fall 16% between 2020-21 and 2024-25. The ratio of students to teachers went from 12.9:1 to 19.4:1 over the same years.
The J H Hines Elementary School community page is open for posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
McLennan County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
266,067
Census ACS
Median income
$66,643
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
124
45,703 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in WACO ISD
- Waco High SchoolHigh · 1,885 students
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,752 students
- Tennyson Middle SchoolMiddle · 963 students
- Bell's Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 786 students
- Cesar Chavez Middle SchoolMiddle · 786 students
- Lake Air Montessori SchoolElementary · 734 students
Other schools in WACO
- Midway High SchoolHigh · 2,687 students
- Waco High SchoolHigh · 1,885 students
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,752 students
- Tennyson Middle SchoolMiddle · 963 students
- La Vega High SchoolHigh · 881 students
- Bell's Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 786 students
Nearby schools
- Quinn Campus Public Middle School0.2 mi · 269
- Paul and Jane Meyer Public High School0.2 mi · 233
- G L Wiley Opportunity Center0.3 mi · 98
- G W Carver Middle School0.7 mi · 723
- Challenge Academy0.8 mi · 1
- Challenge Academy0.8 mi · 2
Frequently asked questions
About J H Hines Elementary SchoolHow many students attend J H Hines Elementary School?
J H Hines Elementary School enrolls approximately 379 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does J H Hines Elementary School serve?
J H Hines Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at J H Hines Elementary School?
Approximately 19.4:1 students per teacher at J H Hines Elementary School.
How diverse is J H Hines Elementary School?
J H Hines Elementary School reports a student body of 3% White, 22% Hispanic, 69% Black, 5% Two or more.
Is J H Hines Elementary School public or private?
J H Hines Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by WACO ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.