1
What's the most underrated thing about MCDOWELL MIDDLE that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
403
Middle
DISTRICT 432 · STATE 643
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HONDO ISD·NCES 482343002377
McDowell Middle School
1602 27TH ST S, HONDO, TX 78861 · (830) 426-2261 · Medina County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL403 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.8:1 · STATE 14.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
67%
271 students
DISTRICT 68% · STATE 65%
Community
1
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 | 137 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 116 | 29% |
| Grade 8 | 150 | 37% |
Student demographics
49%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 51% · 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
McDowell Middle School→Hondo High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within HONDO ISD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
42.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +9.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
34.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +9.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 34 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 9 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 9 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 18.0% | 24.0% | 30.0% | 28.0% |
| Mathematics | 11.0% | 23.0% | 28.0% | 38.0% |
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 | 42.0% | 34.0% |
| 2024-25 | 44.0% | 36.0% |
| 2023-24 | 44.0% | 33.0% |
| 2022-23 | 36.0% | 36.0% |
| 2021-22 | 31.0% | 23.0% |
| 2020-21 | 33.0% | 25.0% |
% 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
37.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.0%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 37% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% 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 McDowell Middle School
McDowell Middle School's state test result (37.4% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| McDowell Middle School this school | 403 | 67.2% | 37.4% |
| A C Blunt Middle School ARANSAS PASS | 382 | 70.2% | 27.9% |
| Gainesville Junior High School GAINESVILLE | 422 | 63.5% | 25.7% |
| Dalhart Junior High School DALHART | 412 | 68.7% | 35.3% |
| Gainesville Intermediate School GAINESVILLE | 480 | 64.2% | 23.8% |
| Sweetwater Middle School SWEETWATER | 372 | 65.3% | 29.7% |
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 McDowell Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Medina County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.4% | #1,069 of 1,635 | #4 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 34.0% | #1,196 of 1,670 ▼ 152 | #4 of 6 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 42.0% | #1,399 of 1,670 ▼ 160 | #5 of 6 ▼ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +2.0pp | #1,256 of 1,570 | #6 of 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 403 | #1,257 of 1,749 | #5 of 6 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.3:1 | #431 of 1,542 | #2 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.8% | #927 of 1,543 | #3 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 67.2% | #780 of 1,648 | #3 of 6 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.1% | #757 of 942 | N/A |
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
403
-7 (-2%) vs 2020
-26% since 1990-91, when it was 542
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
was 11.4:1
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 | 403 | 30.2 | 13.3:1 | 67% (271) |
| 2023-24 | 394 | 31.9 | 12.4:1 | 68% (266) |
| 2022-23 | 420 | 32.9 | 12.8:1 | 63% (266) |
| 2020-21 | 410 | 36 | 11.4:1 | 65% (265) |
| 2017-18 | 429 | 35 | 12.3:1 | 59% (254) |
| 2015-16 | 482 | 38 | 12.7:1 | 65% (312) |
| 2010-11 | 473 | 38 | 12.4:1 | 25% (118) |
| 2000-01 | 510 | 40 | 12.8:1 | 40% (206) |
| 1990-91 | 542 | 32 | 16.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for McDowell Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (429 to 403); teachers down 14% (35 to 30.2).
About McDowell Middle School
McDowell Middle School is a small middle school with its address in HONDO, Texas. The school has 403 students in 2024-25 across grades 6 through 8. That compares with an average of about 643 students for middle schools in Texas.
The 4 schools in HONDO ISD enroll 1,727 students altogether, McDowell Middle School among them.
Federal enrollment data show McDowell Middle School is 63% Hispanic. Enrollment also includes 34% White. The school's Hispanic share is 11 points above the 52% share among Medina County residents. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 49%.
A staff of 30.2 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 13.3:1. Across middle schools in Texas, the average ratio is 14.4:1. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 67%. Among public schools in Medina County, the average eligibility rate is 57%.
McDowell Middle School sits between the top and bottom 10% of Texas schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 37.4% and a predicted 45.0%.
In Medina County, home to about 53,547 people, median household income comes to about $78,074, 23% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Medina County's 24 public schools enroll about 13,127 students and include McDowell Middle School.
McDowell Middle School is about 0.1 miles from Meyer Elementary School, its nearest public school. McDowell Middle School has 3 other public schools within five miles. McDowell Middle School ranks 7th of 8 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 37.4% against a local average of 53.2%.
The NCES locale for McDowell Middle School is Town: Distant, which covers schools in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
Enrollment was essentially flat over 4 years: 410 in 2020-21, 403 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio increased from 11.4:1 in 2020-21 to 13.3:1 in 2024-25.
People can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips and other school topics. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Medina County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
53,547
Census ACS
Median income
$78,074
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
23%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
24
13,127 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in HONDO ISD
- Hondo High SchoolHigh · 518 students
- Meyer Elementary SchoolElementary · 431 students
- Newell E Woolls Intermediate SchoolElementary · 375 students
Other schools in HONDO
- Hondo High SchoolHigh · 518 students
- Meyer Elementary SchoolElementary · 431 students
- Newell E Woolls Intermediate SchoolElementary · 375 students
Nearby schools
- Meyer Elementary School0.1 mi · 431
- Newell E Woolls Intermediate School0.1 mi · 375
- Hondo High School0.7 mi · 518
- D'hanis School7.6 mi · 290
- Castroville Elementary School15.9 mi · 600
- Medina Valley Middle School18.6 mi · 1,157
Frequently asked questions
About McDowell Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at McDowell Middle School?
McDowell Middle School enrolls approximately 403 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does McDowell Middle School serve?
McDowell Middle School serves grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at McDowell Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at McDowell Middle School is approximately 13.3:1 (30 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at McDowell Middle School?
At McDowell Middle School, the student body is approximately 34% White, 63% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Two or more.
Is McDowell Middle School public or private?
McDowell Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by HONDO ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.