1
What's one thing NELSON MIDDLE gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,094
Middle
DISTRICT 856 · STATE 643
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FRISCO ISD·NCES 482001013314
Nelson Middle School
10100 INDEPENDENCE PKWY, FRISCO, TX 75035 · (469) 633-4100 · Collin County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,094 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 97% of Texas public middle schools
- A+Test 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
16.1:1
68 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 14.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
5%
52 students
DISTRICT 15% · 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 | 355 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 360 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 379 | 35% |
Student demographics
45%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 70% · 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
93.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +58.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
91.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +41.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 93 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 91 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 58 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 41 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 76.0% | 17.0% | 5.0% | 2.0% |
| Mathematics | 65.0% | 26.0% | 7.0% | 2.0% |
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 | 93.0% | 91.0% |
| 2024-25 | 91.0% | 93.0% |
| 2023-24 | 92.0% | 88.0% |
| 2022-23 | 84.0% | 85.0% |
| 2021-22 | 75.0% | 82.0% |
| 2020-21 | 35.0% | 50.0% |
% 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
87.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
71.7%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+15.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 88% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 72% 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 16 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 Nelson Middle School
Nelson Middle School's state test result (87.5% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson Middle School this school | 1,094 | 4.8% | 87.5% |
| Fowler Middle School PLANO | 967 | 6.4% | 89.2% |
| Rice Middle School PLANO | 872 | 10.7% | 84.3% |
| Fort Settlement Middle School SUGAR LAND | 1,504 | 12.1% | 87.6% |
| Lawler Middle School FRISCO | 903 | 4.1% | 92.5% |
| Uplift North Hills Prep Middle School IRVING | 502 | 14.9% | 80.0% |
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 Nelson Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Collin County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 87.5% | #7 of 1,635 | #3 of 51 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 91.0% | #7 of 1,670 ▼ 3 | #2 of 57 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 93.0% | #9 of 1,670 ▲ 7 | #2 of 57 ▲ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +7.5pp | #952 of 1,570 | #36 of 52 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,094 | #196 of 1,749 | #12 of 57 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #1,149 of 1,542 | #41 of 57 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 45.2% | #1,018 of 1,543 | #55 of 57 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 4.8% | #1,642 of 1,648 | #49 of 51 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +42.6% | #51 of 437 | #4 of 20 |
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
1,094
+78 (+8%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
was 16.7:1
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 | 1,094 | 67.8 | 16.1:1 | 5% (52) |
| 2023-24 | 1,131 | 69.2 | 16.3:1 | 4% (47) |
| 2022-23 | 1,130 | 66 | 17.1:1 | 4% (47) |
| 2020-21 | 1,016 | 61 | 16.7:1 | 5% (54) |
| 2017-18 | 767 | 51.7 | 14.8:1 | 7% (53) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Nelson Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 43% (767 to 1,094); teachers up 31% (51.7 to 67.8).
About Nelson Middle School
Nelson Middle School is a high-enrollment middle school in FRISCO, Texas, one of the schools in FRISCO ISD. The school enrolls 1,094 students, from grades 6 through 8. Average enrollment for middle schools in Texas is about 643, so this school runs 70% above that.
The district for Nelson Middle School is FRISCO ISD, with 76 schools and 65,289 students.
Asian students are the majority at Nelson Middle School, with 72% of enrollment. After that, the student body is 14% White, 4% Black, 4% Hispanic, and 3% multiracial. Among all residents of Collin County, the Asian share is about 19%. The school's diversity index is 45%, meaning two students picked at random have a 45% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Teacher staffing is 67.8 full-time equivalents, or about 16.1 students per teacher. On average, middle schools in Texas have 14.4:1, compared with 16.1:1 here. About 5% of students, or 52, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Collin County report 30%.
allk12 grades Nelson Middle School an A+. The grade compares the school only with Texas public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
BeatsExpectations places Nelson Middle School in the top 10% of Texas schools. The measure fits a line through proficiency and free or reduced-price lunch share for each state, and this school sits 15.9 points above it (87.5% actual, 71.7% predicted).
Across Collin County, the median household income is $121,600, about 56% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. In all, Collin County has 338 public schools and roughly 227,575 students.
The closest public school to Nelson Middle School is Norris Elementary School, about 0.2 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. In a group of 9 nearby schools with scores, Nelson Middle School ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Suburb: Large.
Enrollment at Nelson Middle School grew 8% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, from 1,016 to 1,094 students.
Parents and students can post about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Nelson Middle School. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Collin County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,163,337
Census ACS
Median income
$121,600
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
56%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
338
227,575 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in FRISCO ISD
- Wakeland High SchoolHigh · 2,230 students
- Reedy High SchoolHigh · 2,201 students
- Lebanon Trail High SchoolHigh · 2,173 students
- Centennial High SchoolHigh · 2,018 students
- Lone Star High SchoolHigh · 2,004 students
- Heritage High SchoolHigh · 1,996 students
Other schools in FRISCO
- Rock Hill High SchoolHigh · 2,442 students
- Wakeland High SchoolHigh · 2,230 students
- Reedy High SchoolHigh · 2,201 students
- Lebanon Trail High SchoolHigh · 2,173 students
- Centennial High SchoolHigh · 2,018 students
- Lone Star High SchoolHigh · 2,004 students
Other Nelson Middle schools
One other US public school is named Nelson Middle. Nelson Middle School is the largest of the 2.
- Nelson MiddleLovingston, VA · 328 students
Nearby schools
- Norris Elementary School0.2 mi · 606
- Independence High School0.3 mi · 1,698
- Ashley Elementary School0.9 mi · 572
- Liscano Elementary School1.0 mi · 654
- Heritage High School1.1 mi · 1,996
- McSpedden Elementary School1.4 mi · 773
Frequently asked questions
About Nelson Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Nelson Middle School?
Nelson Middle School enrolls approximately 1,094 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Nelson Middle School serve?
Nelson Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many teachers does Nelson Middle School have?
Nelson Middle School employs 68 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Nelson Middle School?
Student demographics at Nelson Middle School are roughly 14% White, 4% Hispanic, 4% Black, 72% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Nelson Middle School?
Nelson Middle School is overseen by FRISCO ISD in Collin County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.