POPE EL

Set in ARLINGTON, Texas, POPE EL is a modestly sized K-5 school, overseen by ARLINGTON ISD. It enrolls 439 students across grades pre-K through 6.

ARLINGTON ISD runs 75 schools in total, collectively educating 53,394 students. POPE EL is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, POPE EL shows that 52% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school records 23% Black, 18% White, 4% multiracial. By comparison, Tarrant County as a whole is about 30% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, POPE EL lists 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.7:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.1:1 average. An estimated 79% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is north of Tarrant County's rate of about 63%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), POPE EL is in the bottom 10% of Texas public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 39.2%; POPE EL posts 21.0%, -18.2 points below that line.

Around the school, Tarrant County reports that median household earnings sit near $84,207, roughly 35% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. Across Tarrant County's 639 public schools (combined enrollment of about 385,835 students), POPE EL is one campus in the mix.

WIMBISH WORLD LANGUAGE ACADEMY is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.9 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts POPE EL at 9th of 9; the average score across the group is 36.8%.

POPE EL operates from a city-core location.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 20%: 551 students in 2018 compared to 439 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 18% to 23% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 15.6:1 in 2018 to 12.7:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the POPE EL community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.