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How has PALO ALTO MIDDLE changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
781
Middle
DISTRICT 700 · STATE 643
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·KILLEEN ISD·NCES 482566005918
Palo Alto Middle School
2301 W ELMS RD, KILLEEN, TX 76549 · (254) 336-1200 · Bell County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL781 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 3% of Texas public middle schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- CThree-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
16.3:1
48 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.0:1 · STATE 14.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
77%
599 students
DISTRICT 64% · 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 | 298 | 38% |
| Grade 7 | 250 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 233 | 30% |
Student demographics
64%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · 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
36.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +12.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
27.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +1.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 36 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 27 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 12 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 1 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 14.0% | 22.0% | 25.0% | 39.0% |
| Mathematics | 7.0% | 20.0% | 26.0% | 47.0% |
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 | 36.0% | 27.0% |
| 2024-25 | 34.0% | 20.0% |
| 2023-24 | 35.0% | 17.0% |
| 2022-23 | 26.0% | 24.0% |
| 2021-22 | 26.0% | 15.0% |
| 2020-21 | 24.0% | 26.0% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of TX schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
24.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.9%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-16.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 24% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 41% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Palo Alto Middle School
Palo Alto Middle School's state test result (24.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto Middle School this school | 781 | 76.7% | 24.5% |
| Berry Middle School MESQUITE | 599 | 74.3% | 39.4% |
| Richard Allie Middle School CROWLEY | 1,008 | 71.9% | 37.2% |
| G W Kennemer Middle School DALLAS | 795 | 79.7% | 37.4% |
| Marshall Middle School BEAUMONT | 694 | 80.3% | 31.8% |
| Terry Middle School MESQUITE | 780 | 83.7% | 35.5% |
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 Palo Alto Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Bell County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 24.5% | #1,527 of 1,635 | #23 of 23 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 27.0% | #1,477 of 1,670 ▲ 95 | #23 of 23 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 36.0% | #1,561 of 1,670 ▼ 12 | #22 of 23 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +6.5pp | #1,014 of 1,570 | #16 of 21 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 781 | #595 of 1,749 | #5 of 25 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.3:1 | #1,184 of 1,542 | #15 of 22 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.1% | #372 of 1,543 | #15 of 22 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 76.7% | #584 of 1,648 | #3 of 23 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +19.8% | #147 of 437 | #3 of 8 |
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
781
-85 (-10%) vs 2020
-9% since 2000-01, when it was 861
Student : Teacher
16.3:1
was 17.7:1
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 | 781 | 47.9 | 16.3:1 | 77% (599) |
| 2023-24 | 759 | 46.8 | 16.2:1 | 87% (661) |
| 2022-23 | 790 | 49 | 16.1:1 | 75% (592) |
| 2020-21 | 866 | 49 | 17.7:1 | 66% (574) |
| 2017-18 | 652 | 48.9 | 13.3:1 | 78% (507) |
| 2015-16 | 876 | 59 | 14.8:1 | 67% (587) |
| 2010-11 | 866 | 59 | 14.7:1 | 52% (453) |
| 2000-01 | 861 | 55 | 15.7:1 | 40% (348) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Palo Alto Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 20% (652 to 781); teachers down 2% (48.9 to 47.9).
About Palo Alto Middle School
Palo Alto Middle School, located in KILLEEN, Texas, is a mid-sized middle-grades school. Its grade span covers grades 6 through 8, with 781 students on the rolls. On average, middle schools in Texas enroll around 643, and this school is 21% bigger than that mark.
KILLEEN ISD enrolls 42,883 students, and its 55 schools include Palo Alto Middle School.
About 50% of students at Palo Alto Middle School are Black, the largest single group. After that, the student body is 31% Hispanic, 9% White, 5% multiracial, and 2% Pacific Islander. Among all residents of Bell County, the Black share is about 23%. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 64%.
The student-to-teacher ratio at Palo Alto Middle School is 16.3:1, based on 47.9 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for middle schools in Texas is 14.4:1, so this school has more students per teacher. Palo Alto Middle School counts 77% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Bell County report 57%.
Palo Alto Middle School earns an F on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 3% of Texas public middle schools.
Palo Alto Middle School scores 16.5 points below its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results: 24.5% actual versus 40.9% predicted. That puts it in the bottom 10% of Texas schools on BeatsExpectations.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Bell County show that the median household earns about $68,865 a year, about 27% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. Bell County has 130 public schools with about 71,041 students, including Palo Alto Middle School.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Maxdale Elementary School, is about 0.6 miles. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. On average proficiency, Palo Alto Middle School is 9th of 9 nearby schools with test data.
Palo Alto Middle School is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000, a location NCES labels City: Mid-size.
By 2024-25, enrollment had dropped to 781, from 866 in 2020-21. By 2024-25, the school had 16.3 students per teacher, compared with 17.7 in 2020-21.
Palo Alto Middle School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. You can also rate the school on this page.
Bell County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
386,897
Census ACS
Median income
$68,865
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
130
71,041 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in KILLEEN ISD
- Harker Heights High SchoolHigh · 2,192 students
- Robert M Shoemaker High SchoolHigh · 2,165 students
- Killeen High SchoolHigh · 2,083 students
- Chaparral High SchoolHigh · 2,031 students
- C E Ellison High SchoolHigh · 1,761 students
- Roy J Smith Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,135 students
Other schools in KILLEEN
- Robert M Shoemaker High SchoolHigh · 2,165 students
- Killeen High SchoolHigh · 2,083 students
- Chaparral High SchoolHigh · 2,031 students
- C E Ellison High SchoolHigh · 1,761 students
- Roy J Smith Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,135 students
- Killeen Elementary SchoolElementary · 1,091 students
Nearby schools
- Maxdale Elementary School0.6 mi · 511
- Willow Springs Elementary School0.7 mi · 670
- Live Oak Ridge Middle School1.3 mi · 676
- Pershing Park Elementary School1.5 mi · 934
- Reeces Creek Elementary School1.5 mi · 832
- Roy J Smith Middle School1.5 mi · 1,135
Frequently asked questions
About Palo Alto Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Palo Alto Middle School?
Palo Alto Middle School enrolls approximately 781 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Palo Alto Middle School serve?
Palo Alto Middle School serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Palo Alto Middle School?
Approximately 16.3:1 students per teacher at Palo Alto Middle School.
What is the student diversity at Palo Alto Middle School?
Student demographics at Palo Alto Middle School are roughly 9% White, 31% Hispanic, 50% Black, 2% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Palo Alto Middle School public or private?
Palo Alto Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by KILLEEN ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.