1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at SAM FORDYCE EL right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
356
Elementary
DISTRICT 489 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LA JOYA ISD·NCES 482613009306
Sam Fordyce Elementary School
801 FM 886, SULLIVAN CITY, TX 78595 · (956) 323-2490 · Hidalgo County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL356 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.7:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.1:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
351 students
DISTRICT 92% · 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 | 84 | 24% |
| Kindergarten | 42 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 39 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 40 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 60 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 48 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 43 | 12% |
Student demographics
0%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 0% · 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
54.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +29.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
56.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +42.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 54 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 56 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 29 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 | 27.0% | 27.0% | 20.0% | 26.0% |
| Mathematics | 24.0% | 32.0% | 22.0% | 22.0% |
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 | 54.0% | 56.0% |
| 2024-25 | 56.0% | 53.0% |
| 2023-24 | 61.0% | 65.0% |
| 2022-23 | 53.0% | 63.0% |
| 2021-22 | 30.0% | 45.0% |
| 2020-21 | 25.0% | 14.0% |
% 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
53.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
31.6%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+21.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 53% 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 21 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 →
Where Sam Fordyce Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Hidalgo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 53.0% | #1,192 of 4,401 | #39 of 181 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 56.0% | #1,233 of 4,466 | #47 of 183 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 54.0% | #2,058 of 4,466 | #81 of 183 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -3.0pp | #857 of 3,998 | #34 of 180 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 356 | #3,830 of 4,938 | #165 of 192 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.7:1 | #639 of 4,622 | #6 of 185 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 0.0% | #4,609 of 4,628 | #177 of 185 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -20.5% | #1,132 of 2,838 | #53 of 128 |
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.
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
356
-92 (-21%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
12.7:1
was 15.0:1
% White
0%
was 0%
% Hispanic
100%
was 100%
% Black
0%
was 0%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free or reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 356 | 28 | 12.7:1 | 99% (351) |
| 2023-24 | 449 | 29.5 | 15.2:1 | 98% (438) |
| 2022-23 | 404 | 28 | 14.4:1 | 91% (366) |
| 2017-18 | 448 | 29.8 | 15.0:1 | 94% (421) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sam Fordyce Elementary School.
About Sam Fordyce Elementary School
Sam Fordyce Elementary School is a small elementary school in SULLIVAN CITY, Texas, administered by LA JOYA ISD. It reported 356 students in pre-K through 5 in 2024-25. That compares with an average of about 519 students for elementary schools in Texas.
LA JOYA ISD enrolls 22,942 students in 36 schools, including Sam Fordyce Elementary School.
Sam Fordyce Elementary School is 100% Hispanic by enrollment. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Hidalgo County's population at about 92%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Sam Fordyce Elementary School scores 0%.
Sam Fordyce Elementary School has a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.7:1, with 28 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for elementary schools in Texas, 15.1:1, is higher. A common income measure, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, is 99% at Sam Fordyce Elementary School. Compared with the 85% average for public schools in Hidalgo County, the school's rate is higher.
On allk12's BeatsExpectations measure, Sam Fordyce Elementary School is among the top 10% of schools in Texas. Predicted: 31.6%. Actual: 53.0%.
The school is in Hidalgo County, where the median household earns about $54,338 a year, about 21% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 23%. Sam Fordyce Elementary School shares Hidalgo County with 363 other public schools.
Rosendo Benavides Elementary School is the nearest public school to Sam Fordyce Elementary School, about 2.6 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, 5 other public schools are within five miles. In a group of 8 nearby schools with scores, Sam Fordyce Elementary School ranks 4th on average proficiency.
Sam Fordyce Elementary School falls in the Rural: Fringe locale category, used for schools in rural territory close to an urban area.
From 2017-18 to 2024-25, enrollment decreased from 448 to 356, a 21% decline. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (12.7:1) than in 2017-18 (15.0:1).
The Sam Fordyce Elementary School discussion page is a place for open houses, carpools, and field trips. You can also rate the school on this page.
Hidalgo County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
891,977
Census ACS
Median income
$54,338
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
23%
Below federal line
Schools in county
364
212,859 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in LA JOYA ISD
- La Joya High SchoolHigh · 2,405 students
- La Joya Palmview High SchoolHigh · 2,073 students
- Juarez-Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 1,952 students
- Enrique Kiki Camarena Elementary SchoolElementary · 715 students
- John F Kennedy Elementary SchoolElementary · 676 students
- Ann Richards Middle SchoolMiddle · 665 students
Other schools in SULLIVAN CITY
- Rosendo Benavides Elementary SchoolElementary · 267 students
Nearby schools
- Rosendo Benavides Elementary School2.6 mi · 267
- Hope Academy4.8 mi · 78
- Tabasco Elementary School4.9 mi · 544
- Jimmy Carter Early College High School4.9 mi · 327
- Thelma Rosa Salinas STEM Early College High School4.9 mi · 471
- La Joya High School5.1 mi · 2,405
Frequently asked questions
About Sam Fordyce Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Sam Fordyce Elementary School?
Sam Fordyce Elementary School enrolls approximately 356 students in grades PK-05.
Is Sam Fordyce Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Sam Fordyce Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Sam Fordyce Elementary School have?
Sam Fordyce Elementary School employs 28 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.7:1.
How diverse is Sam Fordyce Elementary School?
Sam Fordyce Elementary School reports a student body of 100% Hispanic.
Is Sam Fordyce Elementary School public or private?
Sam Fordyce Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by LA JOYA ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.