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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at PARKDALE EL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
497
Elementary
DISTRICT 474 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WACO ISD·NCES 484428005051
Parkdale Elementary School
6400 EDMOND, WACO, TX 76710 · (254) 772-2170 · McLennan County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL497 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 5% of Texas public elementary schools
- FTest 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.
- 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
13.8:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
92%
459 students
DISTRICT 89% · 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 | 61 | 12% |
| Kindergarten | 97 | 20% |
| Grade 1 | 71 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 75 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 58 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 61 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 74 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (97) is 31% larger than its 5th grade class (74).
Student demographics
64%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
39.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +36.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
28.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +10.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 39 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 28 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 36 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 10 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 13.0% | 26.0% | 22.0% | 39.0% |
| Mathematics | 8.0% | 20.0% | 22.0% | 50.0% |
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 | 39.0% | 28.0% |
| 2024-25 | 31.0% | 21.0% |
| 2023-24 | 19.0% | 18.0% |
| 2022-23 | 26.0% | 20.0% |
| 2021-22 | 29.0% | 21.0% |
| 2020-21 | 3.0% | 18.0% |
% 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
18.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.3%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 19% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 34% 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 Parkdale Elementary School
Parkdale Elementary School's state test result (18.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parkdale Elementary School this school | 497 | 92.4% | 18.6% |
| Hayley Elementary School LA MARQUE | 484 | 88.0% | 23.1% |
| Mike Moses Elementary School NACOGDOCHES | 503 | 94.0% | 16.9% |
| Eastern Hills Elementary School FORT WORTH | 459 | 92.4% | 16.3% |
| Walnut Bend Elementary School HOUSTON | 587 | 90.6% | 33.7% |
| Bramlette Steam Academy LONGVIEW | 421 | 87.9% | 42.2% |
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 Parkdale Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In McLennan County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 18.6% | #4,308 of 4,401 | #36 of 41 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 28.0% | #4,082 of 4,466 ▲ 195 | #24 of 41 ▲ 7 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.0% | #3,799 of 4,466 ▲ 355 | #25 of 41 ▲ 7 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +10.5pp | #1,426 of 3,998 | #15 of 40 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 497 | #2,585 of 4,938 | #15 of 49 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.8:1 | #1,375 of 4,622 | #13 of 45 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 63.5% | #1,106 of 4,628 | #12 of 45 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 92.4% | #800 of 4,789 | #12 of 48 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -19.8% | #1,193 of 2,838 | #8 of 28 |
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
497
-125 (-20%) vs 2020
+19% since 1990-91, when it was 418
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
was 16.8:1
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 | 497 | 36 | 13.8:1 | 92% (459) |
| 2023-24 | 520 | 32.2 | 16.2:1 | 93% (484) |
| 2022-23 | 559 | 35.5 | 15.7:1 | 92% (514) |
| 2020-21 | 622 | 37 | 16.8:1 | 93% (578) |
| 2017-18 | 620 | 38 | 16.3:1 | 88% (545) |
| 2015-16 | 608 | 37 | 16.4:1 | 86% (524) |
| 2010-11 | 423 | 28 | 15.1:1 | 89% (375) |
| 2000-01 | 392 | 26 | 15.1:1 | 76% (298) |
| 1990-91 | 418 | 22 | 19.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Parkdale Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 20% (620 to 497); teachers down 5% (38 to 36).
About Parkdale Elementary School
Parkdale Elementary School is an elementary school in WACO, Texas, according to federal school records. School enrollment was 497 students in 2024-25, in pre-K through 5.
WACO ISD has 24 schools; together they serve 13,476 students.
Hispanic students form the largest group at Parkdale Elementary School, 45% of enrollment. Other groups include 38% Black, 12% White, and 5% multiracial. By comparison, McLennan County residents are about 27% Hispanic. By the diversity index, Parkdale Elementary School comes in at 64%.
The school reports 36 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 13.8 students per teacher. For comparison, elementary schools in Texas average 15.1:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 92% of students. Across public schools in McLennan County, the average is 62%.
Parkdale Elementary School is graded D by allk12, scoring above 5% of Texas public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Parkdale Elementary School is in the bottom 10% of Texas schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 34.3%. The school's actual rate is 18.6%, 15.7 points lower.
In the county around the school, McLennan County, median household income is about $66,643, 29% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Parkdale Elementary School is among the 124 public schools in McLennan County.
Tennyson Middle School is the nearest neighboring public 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, Parkdale Elementary School ranks 8th on average proficiency.
Its location is classified as City: Mid-size by the National Center for Education Statistics.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Parkdale Elementary School went from 622 students to 497. The ratio was 16.8:1 in 2020-21 and 13.8:1 in 2024-25.
Questions about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater can be posted here. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
McLennan County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
266,067
Census ACS
Median income
$66,643
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
124
45,703 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in WACO ISD
- Waco High SchoolHigh · 1,885 students
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,752 students
- Tennyson Middle SchoolMiddle · 963 students
- Bell's Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 786 students
- Cesar Chavez Middle SchoolMiddle · 786 students
- Lake Air Montessori SchoolElementary · 734 students
Other schools in WACO
- Midway High SchoolHigh · 2,687 students
- Waco High SchoolHigh · 1,885 students
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,752 students
- Tennyson Middle SchoolMiddle · 963 students
- La Vega High SchoolHigh · 881 students
- Bell's Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 786 students
Other Parkdale Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Parkdale Elementary. Parkdale Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 3.
- PARKDALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLEAST AURORA, NY · 704 students
- Parkdale Elementary SchoolParkdale, OR · 264 students
Nearby schools
- Tennyson Middle School0.2 mi · 963
- Harmony Science Academy (waco)0.5 mi · 569
- Mountainview Elementary School1.1 mi · 349
- Crestview Elementary School1.4 mi · 464
- Waco High School1.4 mi · 1,885
- Lake Air Montessori School1.6 mi · 734
Frequently asked questions
About Parkdale Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Parkdale Elementary School?
Parkdale Elementary School enrolls approximately 497 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Parkdale Elementary School serve?
Parkdale Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Parkdale Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Parkdale Elementary School is approximately 13.8:1 (36 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Parkdale Elementary School?
At Parkdale Elementary School, the student body is approximately 12% White, 45% Hispanic, 38% Black, 5% Two or more.
What district is Parkdale Elementary School in?
Parkdale Elementary School is part of WACO ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.