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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 EL
30515 FARM RD 1847, SAN BENITO, TX 78586 · (956) 254-5121 · Cameron County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL582 STUDENTS
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
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
STAAR 2023-24 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
69.0%
TX avg 51.8% . +36.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
59.0%
TX avg 42.0% . +27.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 69 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 59 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 52 and 42. Reading scores are up about 36 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 27 points.
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
58.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.9%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+17.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 59% 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 18 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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
582
+18 (+3%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 16.1:1
% White
3%
was 4%
% Hispanic
97%
was 95%
% Black
0%
was 0%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About PALMER-LAAKSO EL
PALMER-LAAKSO EL is a primary school of medium-sized scale in SAN BENITO, Texas, one of the schools within LOS FRESNOS CISD, works with 582 students in grades pre-K through 5.
LOS FRESNOS CISD comprises 14 schools with combined enrollment of 10,357 students; PALMER-LAAKSO EL is among them.
On the student-mix side, PALMER-LAAKSO EL shows that nearly all students (97%) are Hispanic. Beyond that, the school lists 3% White.
Looking at school resources, The school employs 38 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 15.4:1. The state averages about 15.1:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. An estimated 75% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is below Cameron County's rate of about 84%.
On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), PALMER-LAAKSO EL ranks in the top 10% of Texas public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 40.9%; PALMER-LAAKSO EL posts 58.5%, +17.6 points above that line.
In the broader community, Cameron County reports that the typical household earns roughly $52,601 per year, about 22% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 21%. In all, Cameron County runs 187 public schools (combined enrollment of about 97,392 students), of which PALMER-LAAKSO EL is one.
LOS FRESNOS H S is the nearest neighboring public school, about 2.3 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 6 other public schools cluster around PALMER-LAAKSO EL. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), PALMER-LAAKSO EL ranks 4th on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 56.2%.
PALMER-LAAKSO EL operates from a rural location.
Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at PALMER-LAAKSO EL has edged up 3%, going from 564 students in 2018 to 582 in 2025.
Within the allk12 community for this school, the feed for PALMER-LAAKSO EL typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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 H SHigh · 3,285 students
- RESACA MIDDLEMiddle · 870 students
- LOS CUATES MIDDLEMiddle · 825 students
- RANCHO VERDE ELElementary · 696 students
- LIBERTY MEMORIAL MIDDLEMiddle · 673 students
- DORA ROMERO ELElementary · 552 students
Other schools in SAN BENITO
- SAN BENITO H SHigh · 2,057 students
- SOUTH TEXAS ISD RISING SCHOLARS ACADEMYMiddle · 781 students
- IDEA COLLEGE PREPARATORY SAN BENITOHigh · 780 students
- BERTA CABAZA MIDDLEMiddle · 695 students
- IDEA ACADEMY SAN BENITOElementary · 685 students
- LIBERTY MEMORIAL MIDDLEMiddle · 673 students
Nearby schools
- LOS FRESNOS H S2.3 mi · 3,285
- LIBERTY MEMORIAL MIDDLE2.8 mi · 673
- LOPEZ-RIGGINS EL3.0 mi · 467
- LAURELES EL3.0 mi · 516
- LOS CUATES MIDDLE3.4 mi · 825
- LOS FRESNOS EL3.4 mi · 549
Frequently asked questions
About PALMER-LAAKSO ELHow large is PALMER-LAAKSO EL?
PALMER-LAAKSO EL enrolls approximately 582 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does PALMER-LAAKSO EL serve?
PALMER-LAAKSO EL serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at PALMER-LAAKSO EL?
Approximately 15.4:1 students per teacher at PALMER-LAAKSO EL.
How diverse is PALMER-LAAKSO EL?
PALMER-LAAKSO EL reports a student body of 3% White, 97% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Two or more.
Who oversees PALMER-LAAKSO EL?
PALMER-LAAKSO EL 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.