1
What do you wish you knew before starting at KELLY-PHARR EL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
587
Elementary
DISTRICT 526 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD·NCES 483486006598
Kelly-Pharr Elementary School
500 E SAM HOUSTON ST, PHARR, TX 78577 · (956) 354-2870 · Hidalgo County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL587 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.9:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.3:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
94%
550 students
DISTRICT 94% · 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 | 86 | 15% |
| Kindergarten | 68 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 72 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 75 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 94 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 100 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 92 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (68) is 26% smaller than its 5th grade class (92).
Student demographics
3%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
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
52.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +23.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
51.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +31.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 52 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 51 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 23 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 31 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 25.0% | 27.0% | 20.0% | 28.0% |
| Mathematics | 26.0% | 25.0% | 24.0% | 25.0% |
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 | 52.0% | 51.0% |
| 2024-25 | 47.0% | 37.0% |
| 2023-24 | 44.0% | 45.0% |
| 2022-23 | 46.0% | 43.0% |
| 2021-22 | 40.0% | 45.0% |
| 2020-21 | 29.0% | 20.0% |
% 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
40.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.7%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 34% 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 Kelly-Pharr Elementary School
Kelly-Pharr Elementary School's state test result (40.3% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kelly-Pharr Elementary School this school | 587 | 93.7% | 40.3% |
| Brite Elementary School BROWNSVILLE | 584 | 93.2% | 47.7% |
| A M Ochoa Elementary School DONNA | 580 | 93.6% | 34.3% |
| Raul Longoria Elementary School PHARR | 568 | 94.5% | 39.7% |
| Ortiz Elementary School BROWNSVILLE | 564 | 94.3% | 68.5% |
| Riverside Elementary School EL PASO | 607 | 92.4% | 35.0% |
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 Kelly-Pharr Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Hidalgo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.3% | #2,551 of 4,401 | #115 of 181 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 51.0% | #1,692 of 4,466 ▲ 1,387 | #75 of 183 ▲ 62 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 52.0% | #2,310 of 4,466 ▲ 550 | #99 of 183 ▲ 36 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +7.0pp | #1,888 of 3,998 | #85 of 180 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 587 | #1,715 of 4,938 | #61 of 192 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.9:1 | #3,257 of 4,622 | #94 of 185 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 3.3% | #4,397 of 4,628 | #81 of 185 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 93.7% | #665 of 4,789 | #62 of 190 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -22.7% | #971 of 2,838 | #47 of 128 |
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
587
-146 (-20%) vs 2020
+15% since 1990-91, when it was 512
Student : Teacher
15.9:1
was 17.4:1
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 | 587 | 36.8 | 15.9:1 | 94% (550) |
| 2023-24 | 629 | 38 | 16.6:1 | 93% (583) |
| 2022-23 | 671 | 40 | 16.8:1 | 91% (610) |
| 2020-21 | 733 | 42 | 17.4:1 | 89% (650) |
| 2017-18 | 759 | 42 | 18.1:1 | 85% (644) |
| 2015-16 | 715 | 43 | 16.6:1 | 81% (580) |
| 2010-11 | 699 | 40 | 17.5:1 | 0% (0) |
| 2000-01 | 596 | 36 | 16.6:1 | 8% (45) |
| 1990-91 | 512 | 32 | 16.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Kelly-Pharr Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 23% (759 to 587); teachers down 12% (42 to 36.8).
About Kelly-Pharr Elementary School
Kelly-Pharr Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school in PHARR, Texas, (ZIP code 78577). It serves 587 students in pre-K through 5.
Besides Kelly-Pharr Elementary School, PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD runs 43 other schools. The district enrolls 29,749 students.
Kelly-Pharr Elementary School's enrollment is 98% Hispanic. The school's diversity index is 3%, meaning two students picked at random have a 3% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The school reported 36.8 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25 and a ratio of 15.9:1. The school has more students per teacher than the 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas. Eligible students account for 94% of enrollment in the free or reduced-price lunch program. Among public schools in Hidalgo County, the average eligibility rate is 85%.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, Kelly-Pharr Elementary School is 6.6 points above the average proficiency rate on state tests predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 40.3% actual, 33.7% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Texas.
In Hidalgo County (population about 891,977), the median household income is $54,338, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 21% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 23%. There are 364 public schools in Hidalgo County, enrolling about 212,859 students in all.
The closest other public school is Vanguard Picasso, about 0.3 miles away. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Kelly-Pharr Elementary School is 7th of 7 on proficiency.
Its location is classified as City: Small by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Enrollment declined 20% from its 2020-21 level of 733. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 17.4:1 to 15.9:1.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss school safety, transportation, and start times at Kelly-Pharr Elementary School. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD
- Psja Early College High SchoolHigh · 2,300 students
- Psja North Early College High SchoolHigh · 2,166 students
- Psja Memorial Early College High SchoolHigh · 1,997 students
- Psja Southwest Early College High SchoolHigh · 1,588 students
- Lyndon B Johnson Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,006 students
- Austin Middle SchoolMiddle · 833 students
Other schools in PHARR
- Psja North Early College High SchoolHigh · 2,166 students
- Vanguard RembrandtCombined · 1,978 students
- Psja Southwest Early College High SchoolHigh · 1,588 students
- Vanguard Van GoghCombined · 1,048 students
- Lyndon B Johnson Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,006 students
- IDEA College Preparatory PharrHigh · 848 students
Nearby schools
- Vanguard Picasso0.3 mi · 572
- Liberty Middle School0.3 mi · 742
- Psja Thomas Jefferson T-STEM Early College High School0.5 mi · 553
- Elvis J Ballew High School0.6 mi · 136
- Vanguard Rembrandt0.6 mi · 1,978
- Buell Central DAEP0.8 mi · 117
Frequently asked questions
About Kelly-Pharr Elementary SchoolHow large is Kelly-Pharr Elementary School?
Kelly-Pharr Elementary School enrolls approximately 587 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Kelly-Pharr Elementary School serve?
Kelly-Pharr Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Kelly-Pharr Elementary School?
Approximately 15.9:1 students per teacher at Kelly-Pharr Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Kelly-Pharr Elementary School?
Student demographics at Kelly-Pharr Elementary School are roughly 2% White, 98% Hispanic, 0% Asian.
What district is Kelly-Pharr Elementary School in?
Kelly-Pharr Elementary School is part of PHARR-SAN JUAN-ALAMO ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.