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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at PREPARATORY FOR EARLY COLLEGE H S this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
430
High
DISTRICT 939 · STATE 796
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·RIO GRANDE CITY GRULLA ISD·NCES 483714013496
Preparatory for Early College High School
144 FM 3167, RIO GRANDE CITY, TX 78582 · (956) 370-4254 · Starr County
GRADES 09–12HIGH32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL430 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 79% of Texas public high 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.
- DThree-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 high schools
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.1:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
424 students
DISTRICT 97% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 118 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 126 | 29% |
| Grade 11 | 88 | 20% |
| Grade 12 | 98 | 23% |
Student demographics
1%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 1% · 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
74.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +14.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
55.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +42.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 55 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 14 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 42 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 15.0% | 59.0% | 19.0% | 7.0% |
| Mathematics | 18.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 8.0% |
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 | 74.0% | 55.0% |
| 2024-25 | 74.0% | 54.0% |
| 2023-24 | 81.0% | 53.0% |
| 2022-23 | 73.0% | 55.0% |
| 2021-22 | 68.0% | 44.0% |
| 2020-21 | 60.0% | 13.0% |
% 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
68.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
31.6%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+36.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 68% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 32% 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 37 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 Preparatory for Early College High School
Preparatory for Early College High School's state test result (68.3% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparatory for Early College High School this school | 430 | 98.6% | 68.3% |
| Progreso High School PROGRESO | 431 | 100.0% | 35.4% |
| Iltexas Liberty High School CLEVELAND | 421 | 96.0% | 27.9% |
| Psja Collegiate School of Health Professions SAN JUAN | 340 | 98.8% | 85.7% |
| Psja Thomas Jefferson T-STEM Early College High School PHARR | 553 | 95.5% | 74.5% |
| Early College T-STEM Academy HOUSTON | 303 | 97.0% | 53.8% |
Matched among Texas high 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 Preparatory for Early College High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Starr County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 68.3% | #275 of 1,385 | N/A |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 55.0% | #417 of 1,425 ▼ 82 | N/A |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 74.0% | #294 of 1,425 ▼ 39 | N/A |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +0.5pp | #1,062 of 1,184 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 430 | #986 of 2,107 | #5 of 7 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.4:1 | #329 of 1,344 | N/A |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 1.4% | #1,321 of 1,346 | N/A |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 98.6% | #16 of 1,522 | N/A |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -9.9% | #250 of 557 | N/A |
Ranked against other public high 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
430
-79 (-16%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
was 14.1:1
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 | 430 | 34.8 | 12.4:1 | 99% (424) |
| 2023-24 | 413 | 34.2 | 12.1:1 | 100% (412) |
| 2022-23 | 414 | 34.1 | 12.2:1 | 97% (400) |
| 2020-21 | 509 | 36 | 14.1:1 | 93% (474) |
| 2017-18 | 477 | 36 | 13.3:1 | 85% (407) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Preparatory for Early College High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 10% (477 to 430); teachers down 3% (36 to 34.8).
About Preparatory for Early College High School
Preparatory for Early College High School is a small high school in RIO GRANDE CITY GRULLA ISD, located in RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas. Grades offered run from 9 through 12, with 430 students enrolled. The average among high schools in Texas is roughly 796 students; this school is 46% smaller than that.
RIO GRANDE CITY GRULLA ISD enrolls 9,316 students, and its 15 schools include Preparatory for Early College High School.
The large majority of students at Preparatory for Early College High School, 99%, are Hispanic. That is close to the 97% Hispanic share among all Starr County residents. By the diversity index, Preparatory for Early College High School comes in at 1%.
Federal records show a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.4:1 at Preparatory for Early College High School, with 34.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. The 15.1:1 average for high schools in Texas is higher than this school's figure. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, a common measure of family income, is 99%.
allk12 grades Preparatory for Early College High School an A-. The grade compares the school only with Texas public high schools, because each state gives its own test.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Preparatory for Early College High School would score about 31.6%. It scores 68.3%, a top-10% result among Texas schools on BeatsExpectations.
In the county around the school, Starr County, median household income is about $37,639, roughly 14% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 31%. Preparatory for Early College High School is among the 29 public schools in Starr County.
The school nearest to Preparatory for Early College High School is Ringgold Middle School, at a distance of less than a tenth of a mile. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among the 9 closest schools with test data, this one included, Preparatory for Early College High School ranks 1st on average proficiency.
In the federal locale system, Preparatory for Early College High School is coded Town: Distant, for schools in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
Preparatory for Early College High School had 509 students in 2020-21 and 430 in 2024-25, a 16% decrease. The ratio was 14.1:1 in 2020-21 and 12.4:1 in 2024-25.
Conversations here can range across sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Starr County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
66,067
Census ACS
Median income
$37,639
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
14%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
31%
Below federal line
Schools in county
29
16,900 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in RIO GRANDE CITY GRULLA ISD
- Rio Grande City High SchoolHigh · 1,670 students
- Veterans Middle SchoolMiddle · 734 students
- Grulla High SchoolHigh · 716 students
- General Ricardo Sanchez Elementary SchoolElementary · 712 students
- Ringgold Middle SchoolMiddle · 639 students
- Grulla Middle SchoolMiddle · 632 students
Other schools in RIO GRANDE CITY
- Rio Grande City High SchoolHigh · 1,670 students
- Veterans Middle SchoolMiddle · 734 students
- IDEA Rio Grande City AcademyElementary · 717 students
- Grulla High SchoolHigh · 716 students
- General Ricardo Sanchez Elementary SchoolElementary · 712 students
- IDEA Rio Grande City College PreparatoryHigh · 695 students
Nearby schools
- Ringgold Middle School0.0 mi · 639
- General Ricardo Sanchez Elementary School0.6 mi · 712
- Veterans Middle School0.7 mi · 734
- IDEA Rio Grande City Academy1.0 mi · 717
- IDEA Rio Grande City College Preparatory1.0 mi · 695
- Roque Guerra Jr Elementary School1.5 mi · 604
Frequently asked questions
About Preparatory for Early College High SchoolHow many students attend Preparatory for Early College High School?
Preparatory for Early College High School enrolls approximately 430 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Preparatory for Early College High School serve?
Preparatory for Early College High School serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Preparatory for Early College High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Preparatory for Early College High School is approximately 12.4:1 (35 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Preparatory for Early College High School?
At Preparatory for Early College High School, the student body is approximately 99% Hispanic, 1% Asian.
Is Preparatory for Early College High School public or private?
Preparatory for Early College High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by RIO GRANDE CITY GRULLA ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.