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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at MESQUITE H S?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,294
High
DISTRICT 1,754 · STATE 796
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MESQUITE ISD·NCES 483039003411
Mesquite High School
300 E DAVIS ST, MESQUITE, TX 75149 · (972) 882-7800 · Dallas County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL2,294 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 35% of Texas public high schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- DThree-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 high schools
Student : Teacher
13.6:1
168 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.2:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
85%
1,951 students
DISTRICT 82% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 613 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 651 | 28% |
| Grade 11 | 512 | 22% |
| Grade 12 | 518 | 23% |
Student demographics
51%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
40.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +7.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
37.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +7.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 40 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 37 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 7 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 7 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 4.0% | 36.0% | 24.0% | 36.0% |
| Mathematics | 8.0% | 29.0% | 44.0% | 19.0% |
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 | 40.0% | 37.0% |
| 2024-25 | 39.0% | 39.0% |
| 2023-24 | 40.0% | 34.0% |
| 2022-23 | 36.0% | 39.0% |
| 2021-22 | 27.0% | 37.0% |
| 2020-21 | 33.0% | 30.0% |
% 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
46.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.4%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 37% 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 Mesquite High School
Mesquite High School's state test result (46.0% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesquite High School this school | 2,294 | 85.0% | 46.0% |
| Eisenhower High School HOUSTON | 2,262 | 86.4% | 33.3% |
| Tyler High School TYLER | 2,148 | 86.7% | 40.8% |
| University High School WACO | 1,752 | 83.9% | 39.5% |
| Davis H S Aldine HOUSTON | 3,184 | 83.3% | 34.5% |
| West Mesquite High School MESQUITE | 1,997 | 84.9% | 47.2% |
Matched among Texas high 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 Mesquite High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Dallas County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.0% | #960 of 1,385 | #51 of 96 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.0% | #915 of 1,425 ▼ 175 | #57 of 100 ▼ 15 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 40.0% | #1,245 of 1,425 ▼ 71 | #78 of 100 ▼ 12 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.0pp | #1,050 of 1,184 | #80 of 98 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,294 | #223 of 2,107 | #17 of 133 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.6:1 | #492 of 1,344 | #12 of 101 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 50.6% | #679 of 1,346 | #41 of 101 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 85.0% | #299 of 1,522 | #41 of 107 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -21.0% | #103 of 557 | #19 of 55 |
Ranked against other public high 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
2,294
-277 (-11%) vs 2020
+8% since 1990-91, when it was 2,125
Student : Teacher
13.6:1
was 13.8:1
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 | 2,294 | 168.3 | 13.6:1 | 85% (1,951) |
| 2023-24 | 2,405 | 176.8 | 13.6:1 | 86% (2,067) |
| 2022-23 | 2,388 | 171.5 | 13.9:1 | 84% (2,008) |
| 2020-21 | 2,571 | 186 | 13.8:1 | 70% (1,806) |
| 2017-18 | 2,904 | 181 | 16.0:1 | 71% (2,056) |
| 2015-16 | 2,892 | 168 | 17.2:1 | 71% (2,065) |
| 2010-11 | 2,708 | 158 | 17.1:1 | 60% (1,616) |
| 2000-01 | 2,936 | 156 | 18.8:1 | 17% (487) |
| 1990-91 | 2,125 | 108 | 19.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mesquite High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 21% (2,904 to 2,294); teachers down 7% (181 to 168.3).
About Mesquite High School
Mesquite High School is a large high school in MESQUITE, Texas, (ZIP code 75149). It is open to students in grades 9 through 12 and enrolls 2,294 students. It has 188% more students than the average for high schools in Texas (about 796).
MESQUITE ISD has 51 schools and 37,930 students, and Mesquite High School is one of those schools.
Federal enrollment data show Mesquite High School is 66% Hispanic. Next come 24% Black and 8% White. The county population is about 41% Hispanic. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 51%.
The student-to-teacher ratio at Mesquite High School is 13.6:1, based on 168.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for high schools in Texas is 15.1:1, so this school has fewer students per teacher. Mesquite High School counts 85% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
On the allk12 Grade, Mesquite High School lands at C+, ahead of 35% of Texas public high schools.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Mesquite High School would score about 37.4%. It scores 46.0%, 8.6 points above that figure.
In Dallas County, the median household earns about $76,547 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 36%, and about 11% of people live in poverty. Dallas County has 771 public schools with about 459,645 students, including Mesquite High School.
Of the public schools around it, Mesquite High School is closest to Black Elementary School, about 0.4 miles away. Mesquite High School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Mesquite High School ranks 1st of 9 nearby schools, at 46.0% versus a 39.0% average.
The NCES locale for Mesquite High School is Suburb: Large, which covers schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment in 2024-25 stood at 2,294, compared with 2,571 in 2020-21.
The allk12 page for Mesquite High School lets the school community talk about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Dallas County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,621,179
Census ACS
Median income
$76,547
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
771
459,645 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in MESQUITE ISD
- Horn High SchoolHigh · 2,757 students
- North Mesquite High SchoolHigh · 2,099 students
- West Mesquite High SchoolHigh · 1,997 students
- Vroonland - Vanguard High SchoolHigh · 1,605 students
- Poteet High SchoolHigh · 1,523 students
- Kimbrough Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,115 students
Other schools in MESQUITE
- Horn High SchoolHigh · 2,757 students
- North Mesquite High SchoolHigh · 2,099 students
- West Mesquite High SchoolHigh · 1,997 students
- Vroonland - Vanguard High SchoolHigh · 1,605 students
- Poteet High SchoolHigh · 1,523 students
- Kimbrough Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,115 students
Other Mesquite High schools
One other US public school is named Mesquite High. Mesquite High School is the largest of the 2.
- Mesquite High SchoolGILBERT, AZ · 1,303 students
Nearby schools
- Black Elementary School0.4 mi · 587
- Agnew Middle School0.6 mi · 1,070
- Shaw Elementary School1.1 mi · 483
- Pioneer Technology (ptaa) Mesquite Elementary School1.2 mi · 212
- Moss Elementary School1.2 mi · 337
- Hanby Elementary School1.3 mi · 768
Frequently asked questions
About Mesquite High SchoolHow large is Mesquite High School?
Mesquite High School enrolls approximately 2,294 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Mesquite High School serve?
Mesquite High School serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Mesquite High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Mesquite High School is approximately 13.6:1 (168 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Mesquite High School?
At Mesquite High School, the student body is approximately 8% White, 66% Hispanic, 24% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is Mesquite High School public or private?
Mesquite High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by MESQUITE ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.