Enrollment
206
Middle
DISTRICT 291 · STATE 643
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SANTA ROSA ISD·NCES 483936006324
Jo Nelson Middle School
102 S MAIN, SANTA ROSA, TX 78593 · (956) 636-9850 · Cameron County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL206 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 49% of Texas public middle schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- BThree-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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
10.3:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.7:1 · STATE 14.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
89%
184 students
DISTRICT 89% · STATE 65%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 64 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 74 | 36% |
| Grade 8 | 68 | 33% |
Student demographics
1%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 2% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Jo Nelson Middle School→Santa Rosa High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within SANTA ROSA ISD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
55.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +42.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
46.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +39.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 55 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 46 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 42 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 39 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 22.0% | 33.0% | 24.0% | 21.0% |
| Mathematics | 13.0% | 33.0% | 31.0% | 23.0% |
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 | 55.0% | 46.0% |
| 2024-25 | 53.0% | 30.0% |
| 2023-24 | 50.0% | 25.0% |
| 2022-23 | 46.0% | 30.0% |
| 2021-22 | 41.0% | 23.0% |
| 2020-21 | 13.0% | 7.0% |
% 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
37.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.5%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+2.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 38% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% 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 Jo Nelson Middle School
Jo Nelson Middle School's state test result (37.6% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jo Nelson Middle School this school | 206 | 89.3% | 37.6% |
| Jose Borrego Middle School MONTE ALTO | 178 | 88.8% | 30.9% |
| David Ybarra Fine Arts Academy EDCOUCH | 264 | 90.2% | 29.3% |
| Lucy Rede Franco Middle School PRESIDIO | 221 | 94.6% | 37.2% |
| Frank Newman Middle School COTULLA | 259 | 87.6% | 38.6% |
| Tornillo Junior High School TORNILLO | 150 | 90.0% | 30.9% |
Matched among Texas middle 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 Jo Nelson Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Cameron County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.6% | #1,056 of 1,635 | #20 of 30 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 46.0% | #701 of 1,670 ▲ 606 | #15 of 30 ▲ 11 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 55.0% | #816 of 1,670 ▲ 28 | #17 of 30 ▼ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +12.5pp | #655 of 1,570 | #19 of 29 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 206 | #1,539 of 1,749 | #28 of 30 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.3:1 | #26 of 1,542 | #1 of 28 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 1.0% | #1,509 of 1,543 | #27 of 28 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 89.3% | #270 of 1,648 | #10 of 30 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.6% | #439 of 942 | #14 of 23 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
206
0 (0%) vs 2020
-25% since 1990-91, when it was 274
Student : Teacher
10.3:1
was 9.4:1
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 | 206 | 19.9 | 10.3:1 | 89% (184) |
| 2023-24 | 223 | 21.7 | 10.3:1 | 89% (198) |
| 2022-23 | 224 | 24.9 | 9.0:1 | 86% (192) |
| 2020-21 | 206 | 22 | 9.4:1 | 87% (180) |
| 2017-18 | 247 | 24.3 | 10.2:1 | 87% (215) |
| 2015-16 | 252 | 21 | 12.0:1 | 81% (205) |
| 2010-11 | 277 | 22 | 12.6:1 | 0% (0) |
| 2000-01 | 261 | 21 | 12.4:1 | 78% (203) |
| 1990-91 | 274 | 70 | 3.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Jo Nelson Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 17% (247 to 206); teachers down 18% (24.3 to 19.9).
About Jo Nelson Middle School
Jo Nelson Middle School is a middle school in SANTA ROSA, Texas, and it is part of SANTA ROSA ISD. It is open to students in grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 206 students. It has 68% fewer students than the average for middle schools in Texas (about 643).
Jo Nelson Middle School is one school in a 3-school district, SANTA ROSA ISD, which enrolls 874 students.
Of every 100 students at Jo Nelson Middle School, about 100 are Hispanic. For comparison, the population of Cameron County is roughly 89% Hispanic. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 1, compared with 70 nationally.
The school had 19.9 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 10.3:1. By comparison, the average for middle schools in Texas is 14.4:1. The school reported 89% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25.
Jo Nelson Middle School earns a B- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 49% of Texas public middle schools.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Jo Nelson Middle School would score about 35.5%. It scores 37.6%, 2.0 points above that figure.
In Cameron County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $52,601, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 22%, and roughly 21% of residents are in poverty. The county has 187 public schools and about 97,392 students.
Santa Rosa High School is less than a tenth of a mile away, making it the nearest public school. Jo Nelson Middle School is one of several public schools in the area, with 4 others within five miles. Local comparison: Jo Nelson Middle School ranks 8th of 8 nearby schools, at 37.6% versus a 46.1% average.
The school's locale code, Rural: Fringe, means it is in rural territory close to an urban area.
Over 4 years, enrollment stayed close to where it was, going from 206 to 206.
Use the discussion section to ask about homework, tutoring, and testing dates at Jo Nelson Middle School. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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 SANTA ROSA ISD
- Elma E Barrera Elementary SchoolElementary · 377 students
- Santa Rosa High SchoolHigh · 291 students
- Cameron County JJAEPElementary
Other schools in SANTA ROSA
- Elma E Barrera Elementary SchoolElementary · 377 students
- Santa Rosa High SchoolHigh · 291 students
Nearby schools
- Santa Rosa High School0.1 mi · 291
- Elma E Barrera Elementary School0.8 mi · 377
- Wilson Elementary School4.5 mi · 373
- Dr Hesiquio Rodriguez Elementary School4.5 mi · 674
- Dishman Elementary School5.8 mi · 313
- La Feria Early College High School6.2 mi · 901
Frequently asked questions
About Jo Nelson Middle SchoolHow many students attend Jo Nelson Middle School?
Jo Nelson Middle School enrolls approximately 206 students in grades 06-08.
Is Jo Nelson Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Jo Nelson Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Jo Nelson Middle School have?
Jo Nelson Middle School employs 20 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 10.3:1.
What is the student diversity at Jo Nelson Middle School?
Student demographics at Jo Nelson Middle School are roughly 100% Hispanic, 0% Black.
Who oversees Jo Nelson Middle School?
Jo Nelson Middle School is overseen by SANTA ROSA ISD in Cameron County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.