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Alumni: what's one memory from MICHAEL E FOSSUM MIDDLE that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
791
Middle
DISTRICT 728 · STATE 643
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MCALLEN ISD·NCES 482967011515
Michael E Fossum Middle School
7800 N WARE RD, MCALLEN, TX 78504 · (956) 971-1105 · Hidalgo County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL791 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 89% of Texas public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C+Three-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
14.7:1
54 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 14.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
60%
476 students
DISTRICT 75% · 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 | 237 | 30% |
| Grade 7 | 299 | 38% |
| Grade 8 | 255 | 32% |
Student demographics
8%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 12% · 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
76.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +41.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
63.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +28.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 76 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 63 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 41 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 28 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 49.0% | 27.0% | 16.0% | 8.0% |
| Mathematics | 37.0% | 26.0% | 20.0% | 17.0% |
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 | 76.0% | 63.0% |
| 2024-25 | 78.0% | 63.0% |
| 2023-24 | 74.0% | 57.0% |
| 2022-23 | 68.0% | 55.0% |
| 2021-22 | 63.0% | 49.0% |
| 2020-21 | 35.0% | 35.0% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of TX schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
62.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.0%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+14.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 62% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 48% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 14 points, placing it in Texas's top 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 Michael E Fossum Middle School
Michael E Fossum Middle School's state test result (62.4% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael E Fossum Middle School this school | 791 | 60.2% | 62.4% |
| Canutillo Middle School CANUTILLO | 717 | 60.3% | 40.5% |
| Trautmann Middle School LAREDO | 756 | 58.6% | 65.8% |
| B L Gray Junior High School MISSION | 775 | 60.8% | 60.4% |
| South Texas ISD Rising Scholars Academy SAN BENITO | 781 | 57.0% | 73.2% |
| Eastlake Middle School EL PASO | 787 | 65.7% | 57.3% |
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 Michael E Fossum Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Hidalgo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 62.4% | #197 of 1,635 | #3 of 54 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 63.0% | #241 of 1,670 ▼ 6 | #5 of 54 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 76.0% | #179 of 1,670 ▼ 33 | #3 of 54 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +8.0pp | #929 of 1,570 | #38 of 54 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 791 | #573 of 1,749 | #17 of 54 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.7:1 | #782 of 1,542 | #42 of 52 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 8.1% | #1,411 of 1,543 | #7 of 52 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 60.2% | #940 of 1,648 | #52 of 54 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.0% | #909 of 942 | #43 of 44 |
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
791
-114 (-13%) vs 2020
-4% since 2010-11, when it was 821
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
was 17.1:1
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 | 791 | 53.9 | 14.7:1 | 60% (476) |
| 2023-24 | 818 | 54.1 | 15.1:1 | 64% (521) |
| 2022-23 | 780 | 54.1 | 14.4:1 | 59% (461) |
| 2020-21 | 905 | 53 | 17.1:1 | 63% (570) |
| 2017-18 | 799 | 50.1 | 15.9:1 | 52% (419) |
| 2015-16 | 832 | 56 | 14.9:1 | 56% (468) |
| 2010-11 | 821 | 53 | 15.5:1 | 0% (0) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Michael E Fossum Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 1% (799 to 791); teachers up 8% (50.1 to 53.9).
About Michael E Fossum Middle School
Michael E Fossum Middle School is a medium-sized middle school that serves part of MCALLEN, Texas. The school serves 791 students in grades 6 through 8 in 2024-25. The average among middle schools in Texas is roughly 643 students; this school is 23% above that.
Michael E Fossum Middle School is in MCALLEN ISD, a district with 19,890 students across 31 schools.
About 96% of the student body at Michael E Fossum Middle School is Hispanic. Beyond that, enrollment is 2% White. The Hispanic share in Hidalgo County as a whole is similar, at about 92%. Michael E Fossum Middle School's diversity index is 8%, against a US figure of 70%.
A ratio of 14.7:1 comes from the school's 53.9 full-time-equivalent teachers. For comparison, middle schools in Texas average 14.4:1. The lunch program counts 60% of students at Michael E Fossum Middle School as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Among public schools in Hidalgo County, the average eligibility rate is 85%.
Michael E Fossum Middle School is graded A by allk12, scoring above 89% of Texas public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Given its lunch-eligibility share, the predicted average proficiency rate on state tests for Michael E Fossum Middle School is 48.0%. It actually posts 62.4%, which is 14.4 points higher and in the top 10% of Texas schools.
Federal survey data for Hidalgo County show that the median household income is $54,338, about 21% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 23% of residents are in poverty. Hidalgo County is home to 364 public schools and about 212,859 public school students.
The school nearest to Michael E Fossum Middle School is Blanca E Sanchez, at a distance of about 0.6 miles. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, Michael E Fossum Middle School places 3rd out of 9 schools in its immediate area.
Michael E Fossum Middle School is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000, a location NCES labels City: Mid-size.
The school enrolled 791 students in 2024-25, 114 fewer than the 905 it had in 2020-21. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (14.7:1) than in 2020-21 (17.1:1).
Conversations here can range across enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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 MCALLEN ISD
- McAllen High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Memorial High SchoolHigh · 2,021 students
- Rowe High SchoolHigh · 1,905 students
- Morris Middle SchoolMiddle · 999 students
- Cathey Middle SchoolMiddle · 827 students
- Gonzalez Elementary SchoolElementary · 818 students
Other schools in MCALLEN
- McAllen High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Memorial High SchoolHigh · 2,021 students
- Morris Middle SchoolMiddle · 999 students
- Cathey Middle SchoolMiddle · 827 students
- IDEA McAllen College PreparatoryHigh · 820 students
- Gonzalez Elementary SchoolElementary · 818 students
Nearby schools
- Blanca E Sanchez0.6 mi · 502
- Garza Elementary School1.0 mi · 409
- Lucile Hendricks Elementary School1.2 mi · 432
- Olivero Garza Sr Elementary School1.3 mi · 648
- Dr Pablo Perez1.5 mi · 601
- Morris Middle School1.5 mi · 999
Frequently asked questions
About Michael E Fossum Middle SchoolHow large is Michael E Fossum Middle School?
Michael E Fossum Middle School enrolls approximately 791 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Michael E Fossum Middle School serve?
Michael E Fossum Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Michael E Fossum Middle School?
Approximately 14.7:1 students per teacher at Michael E Fossum Middle School.
How diverse is Michael E Fossum Middle School?
Michael E Fossum Middle School reports a student body of 2% White, 96% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Is Michael E Fossum Middle School public or private?
Michael E Fossum Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by MCALLEN ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.