1
How has LUCY MAE MCDONALD EL changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
641
Elementary
DISTRICT 471 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FERRIS ISD·NCES 481917009220
Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School
500 FM 983, FERRIS, TX 75125 · (972) 544-2574 · Ellis County
GRADES 01–03ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL641 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 24% of Texas public elementary schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
43 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
79%
509 students
DISTRICT 79% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | 180 | 28% |
| Grade 2 | 224 | 35% |
| Grade 3 | 237 | 37% |
Student demographics
44%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 42% · 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
Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School→Lee Longino Elementary School→Ferris Junior High School→Ferris High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within FERRIS ISD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
46.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +12.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
35.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -3.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 46 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 35 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 12 points since 2020, while math scores are down about 3 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 12.0% | 34.0% | 26.0% | 28.0% |
| Mathematics | 10.0% | 25.0% | 29.0% | 36.0% |
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 | 46.0% | 35.0% |
| 2024-25 | 43.0% | 32.0% |
| 2023-24 | 42.0% | 25.0% |
| 2022-23 | 31.0% | 34.0% |
| 2021-22 | 34.0% | 37.0% |
| 2020-21 | 34.0% | 38.0% |
% 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
33.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.8%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 33% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 40% 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 Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School
Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School's state test result (33.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School this school | 641 | 79.4% | 33.2% |
| Anderson Elementary School CONROE | 686 | 81.5% | 51.8% |
| Freeport Elementary School FREEPORT | 616 | 82.1% | N/A |
| Timberline Elementary School GRAPEVINE | 593 | 78.4% | 32.7% |
| Runyan Elementary School CONROE | 593 | 80.8% | 48.8% |
| Hatchett Elementary School SAN ANTONIO | 588 | 79.9% | 28.0% |
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 Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Ellis County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 33.2% | #3,344 of 4,401 | #33 of 36 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.0% | #3,441 of 4,466 ▲ 117 | #28 of 36 ▲ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 46.0% | #3,009 of 4,466 ▲ 182 | #26 of 36 ▲ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +8.0pp | #1,715 of 3,998 | #13 of 32 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 641 | #1,312 of 4,938 | #6 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.9:1 | #2,365 of 4,622 | #19 of 42 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 43.7% | #2,871 of 4,628 | #40 of 42 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 79.4% | #1,995 of 4,789 | #4 of 42 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +20.7% | #399 of 1,307 | #10 of 20 |
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
641
+129 (+25%) vs 2020
+22% since 2010-11, when it was 527
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
was 12.2:1
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 | 641 | 43 | 14.9:1 | 79% (509) |
| 2023-24 | 662 | 48.3 | 13.7:1 | 83% (548) |
| 2022-23 | 620 | 49.2 | 12.6:1 | 83% (517) |
| 2020-21 | 512 | 42 | 12.2:1 | 85% (435) |
| 2017-18 | 531 | 37.1 | 14.3:1 | 84% (447) |
| 2015-16 | 576 | 36 | 16.0:1 | 82% (470) |
| 2010-11 | 527 | 36 | 14.6:1 | 83% (438) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 21% (531 to 641); teachers up 16% (37.1 to 43).
About Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School
Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School is one of the public schools in FERRIS, Texas. It is a medium-sized elementary school. The school's 641 students are in grades 1 through 3. Statewide, elementary schools in Texas average about 519 students each.
The FERRIS ISD system has 5 schools and 3,010 students.
Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School is 73% Hispanic by enrollment. Other reported shares: 16% White, 9% Black, and 2% multiracial. That compares with about 28% Hispanic among all Ellis County residents. The school's diversity index is 44%, meaning two students picked at random have a 44% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School operates with 43 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 14.9:1. That is close to the 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas. Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School reports 79% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That is higher than the 51% average for public schools in Ellis County.
allk12 grades Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School a C-. The grade compares the school only with Texas public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Test results at Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School are 6.6 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (33.2% actual, 39.8% predicted).
Recent Census Bureau figures for Ellis County show that the median household income is $99,595, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 30%, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. Besides Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School, Ellis County has 82 other public schools.
The nearest other public school, Lee Longino Elementary School, is about 0.4 miles away. There are 6 more public schools inside five miles. On state test proficiency, Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School ranks 5th in a group of 6 nearby schools.
Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School falls in the Rural: Fringe locale category, used for schools in rural territory close to an urban area.
Enrollment is up 25% from 2020-21, when Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School had 512 students, to 2024-25, when it had 641. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio rose to 14.9:1, from 12.2:1.
The discussion area below is open to posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Ellis County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
213,160
Census ACS
Median income
$99,595
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
30%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
46,344 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in FERRIS ISD
- Ferris High SchoolHigh · 940 students
- Ferris Junior High SchoolMiddle · 658 students
- Lee Longino Elementary SchoolElementary · 436 students
- Hazel Ingram Elementary SchoolElementary · 335 students
- Ellis County JJAEPElementary
Other schools in FERRIS
- Ferris High SchoolHigh · 940 students
- Ferris Junior High SchoolMiddle · 658 students
- Lee Longino Elementary SchoolElementary · 436 students
- Hazel Ingram Elementary SchoolElementary · 335 students
Nearby schools
- Lee Longino Elementary School0.4 mi · 436
- Hazel Ingram Elementary School0.8 mi · 335
- Ferris Junior High School1.5 mi · 658
- Ferris High School1.7 mi · 940
- Eddie Bernice Johnson STEM Academy4.1 mi · 554
- Golden Rule Schools Inc - Wilmer4.5 mi · 15
Frequently asked questions
About Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary SchoolHow large is Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School?
Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School enrolls approximately 641 students in grades 01-03.
Is Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades 01-03.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School is approximately 14.9:1 (43 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School?
Student demographics at Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School are roughly 16% White, 73% Hispanic, 9% Black, 0% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School?
Lucy Mae McDonald Elementary School is overseen by FERRIS ISD in Ellis County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.