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Alumni: what's one memory from PALMER-LAAKSO EL that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
582
Elementary
DISTRICT 522 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LOS FRESNOS CISD·NCES 482829007201
Palmer-Laakso Elementary School
30515 FARM RD 1847, SAN BENITO, TX 78586 · (956) 254-5121 · Cameron County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL582 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 94% of Texas public elementary 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.
- B+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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.1:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
75%
439 students
DISTRICT 77% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 68 | 12% |
| Kindergarten | 75 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 75 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 80 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 92 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 105 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 87 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (75) is 14% smaller than its 5th grade class (87).
Student demographics
6%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 6% · 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
65.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +32.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
65.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +33.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 65 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 65 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 32 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 33 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 39.0% | 26.0% | 18.0% | 17.0% |
| Mathematics | 34.0% | 31.0% | 13.0% | 22.0% |
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 | 65.0% | 65.0% |
| 2024-25 | 68.0% | 59.0% |
| 2023-24 | 69.0% | 59.0% |
| 2022-23 | 50.0% | 55.0% |
| 2021-22 | 54.0% | 44.0% |
| 2020-21 | 33.0% | 32.0% |
% 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
60.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.5%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+19.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 61% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 41% 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 19 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 Palmer-Laakso Elementary School
Palmer-Laakso Elementary School's state test result (60.5% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmer-Laakso Elementary School this school | 582 | 75.4% | 60.5% |
| Pittman Elementary School RAYMONDVILLE | 561 | 75.2% | 63.0% |
| Dora Romero Elementary School BROWNSVILLE | 552 | 76.1% | 59.7% |
| Macaria Dela Garza Gorena Elementary School EDINBURG | 554 | 76.4% | 48.4% |
| Los Fresnos Elementary School LOS FRESNOS | 549 | 77.8% | 51.0% |
| East Point Elementary School EL PASO | 558 | 76.0% | 57.4% |
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 Palmer-Laakso Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Cameron County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 60.5% | #739 of 4,401 | #11 of 93 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 65.0% | #659 of 4,466 ▲ 281 | #13 of 93 ▲ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 65.0% | #1,045 of 4,466 ▼ 190 | #17 of 93 ▼ 8 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +12.5pp | #1,136 of 3,998 | #28 of 93 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 582 | #1,756 of 4,938 | #25 of 95 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.4:1 | #2,829 of 4,622 | #43 of 93 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 6.3% | #4,266 of 4,628 | #44 of 93 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 75.4% | #2,251 of 4,789 | #80 of 94 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.2% | #1,104 of 1,307 | #19 of 22 |
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
582
+78 (+15%) vs 2020
+5% since 2000-01, when it was 555
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 15.3:1
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 | 582 | 37.8 | 15.4:1 | 75% (439) |
| 2023-24 | 606 | 34.1 | 17.8:1 | 79% (476) |
| 2022-23 | 495 | 34.1 | 14.5:1 | 78% (387) |
| 2020-21 | 504 | 33 | 15.3:1 | 76% (385) |
| 2017-18 | 564 | 35.1 | 16.1:1 | 74% (420) |
| 2015-16 | 538 | 35 | 15.4:1 | 78% (417) |
| 2010-11 | 763 | 43 | 17.7:1 | 0% (0) |
| 2000-01 | 555 | 37 | 15.0:1 | 55% (306) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Palmer-Laakso Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 3% (564 to 582); teachers up 7% (35.1 to 37.8).
About Palmer-Laakso Elementary School
Palmer-Laakso Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school in SAN BENITO, Texas, administered by LOS FRESNOS CISD. The school counted 582 students in 2024-25, covering pre-K through 5.
Palmer-Laakso Elementary School falls under LOS FRESNOS CISD, which has 14 schools enrolling 10,357 students.
Hispanic students account for 97% of the school's enrollment. Beyond that, enrollment is 3% White. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 6, compared with 70 nationally.
Staffing at Palmer-Laakso Elementary School comes to 37.8 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 15.4:1. It is about the same as the 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas. On the income side, 75% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That is lower than the 84% average for public schools in Cameron County.
Palmer-Laakso Elementary School holds an A allk12 Grade, placing it above 94% of Texas public elementary schools.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, Palmer-Laakso Elementary School ranks in the top 10% of Texas schools. It scores 60.5%; the prediction is 41.5%.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Cameron County show that the median household earns about $52,601 a year, about 22% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 21%. Across Cameron County, 187 public schools serve about 97,392 students.
About 2.3 miles separate Palmer-Laakso Elementary School from the closest public school, Los Fresnos High School. A five-mile radius around the school includes 6 other public schools. Palmer-Laakso Elementary School's average proficiency of 60.5% compares with 56.5% for its nearest scored neighbors.
In the federal locale system, Palmer-Laakso Elementary School is coded Rural: Fringe, for schools in rural territory close to an urban area.
Since 2020-21, enrollment has grown 15%, from 504 to 582.
The allk12 page for Palmer-Laakso Elementary School lets the school community talk about special education services, counseling, and support programs. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Cameron County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
426,120
Census ACS
Median income
$52,601
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
21%
Below federal line
Schools in county
187
97,392 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in LOS FRESNOS CISD
- Los Fresnos High SchoolHigh · 3,285 students
- Resaca Middle SchoolMiddle · 870 students
- Los Cuates Middle SchoolMiddle · 825 students
- Rancho Verde Elementary SchoolElementary · 696 students
- Liberty Memorial Middle SchoolMiddle · 673 students
- Dora Romero Elementary SchoolElementary · 552 students
Other schools in SAN BENITO
- San Benito High SchoolHigh · 2,057 students
- South Texas ISD Rising Scholars AcademyMiddle · 781 students
- IDEA College Preparatory San BenitoHigh · 780 students
- Berta Cabaza Middle SchoolMiddle · 695 students
- IDEA Academy San BenitoElementary · 685 students
- Liberty Memorial Middle SchoolMiddle · 673 students
Nearby schools
- Los Fresnos High School2.3 mi · 3,285
- Liberty Memorial Middle School2.8 mi · 673
- Lopez-Riggins Elementary School3.0 mi · 467
- Laureles Elementary School3.0 mi · 516
- Los Cuates Middle School3.4 mi · 825
- Los Fresnos Elementary School3.4 mi · 549
Frequently asked questions
About Palmer-Laakso Elementary SchoolHow large is Palmer-Laakso Elementary School?
Palmer-Laakso Elementary School enrolls approximately 582 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Palmer-Laakso Elementary School serve?
Palmer-Laakso Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Palmer-Laakso Elementary School?
Approximately 15.4:1 students per teacher at Palmer-Laakso Elementary School.
How diverse is Palmer-Laakso Elementary School?
Palmer-Laakso Elementary School reports a student body of 3% White, 97% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Two or more.
Who oversees Palmer-Laakso Elementary School?
Palmer-Laakso Elementary School is overseen by LOS FRESNOS CISD in Cameron County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.