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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the SHANDS EL administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
567
Elementary
DISTRICT 507 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MESQUITE ISD·NCES 483039003418
SHANDS EL
4836 SHANDS DR, MESQUITE, TX 75150 · (972) 290-4020 · Dallas County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL567 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
43 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.6:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
86%
488 students
DISTRICT 82% · 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
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
STAAR 2023-24 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
39.0%
TX avg 51.8% . +9.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
35.0%
TX avg 42.0% . +0.0pp 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 35 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 52 and 42. Reading scores are up about 9 points since 2020, while math scores have held steady.
Source: STAAR. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
32.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.3%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 33% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Texas's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
567
-258 (-31%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
was 15.9:1
% White
5%
was 11%
% Hispanic
76%
was 73%
% Black
16%
was 13%
% Asian
1%
was 1%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About SHANDS EL
SHANDS EL is a mid-tier elementary school in MESQUITE, Texas, run under MESQUITE ISD. The school caters to 567 students in grades pre-K through 5.
MESQUITE ISD comprises 51 schools with combined enrollment of 37,930 students; SHANDS EL is among them.
On the student-mix side, SHANDS EL logs that 76% of the student body identifies as Hispanic; the rest consists of 16% Black, 5% White. That is noticeably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 41%.
On the income-and-resources front, On paper, SHANDS EL has 43 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.1:1. The state averages around 15.1:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 86% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is north of Dallas County's rate of about 77%.
On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), SHANDS EL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 36.3%, the actual is 32.6%, a residual of -3.7 points.
In the area at large, Dallas County reports that the typical household earns roughly $76,547 per year, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Dallas County's 771 public schools (combined enrollment of about 459,645 students), SHANDS EL is one campus in the mix.
The closest other public school is FLORENCE EL, roughly 0.5 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts SHANDS EL at 7th of 9; the average score across the group is 39.0%.
The school occupies a residential site.
Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at SHANDS EL has shrank 31%, going from 825 students in 2018 to 567 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 11% to 5% across the same window. Class-load math has tightened: from 15.9:1 in 2018 to 13.1:1 in 2025.
On allk12, members of the SHANDS EL community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Dallas County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,621,179
Census ACS
Median income
$76,547
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
771
459,645 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in MESQUITE ISD
- HORN H SHigh · 2,757 students
- MESQUITE H SHigh · 2,294 students
- NORTH MESQUITE H SHigh · 2,099 students
- WEST MESQUITE H SHigh · 1,997 students
- VROONLAND - VANGUARD H SHigh · 1,605 students
- POTEET H SHigh · 1,523 students
Other schools in MESQUITE
- HORN H SHigh · 2,757 students
- MESQUITE H SHigh · 2,294 students
- NORTH MESQUITE H SHigh · 2,099 students
- WEST MESQUITE H SHigh · 1,997 students
- VROONLAND - VANGUARD H SHigh · 1,605 students
- POTEET H SHigh · 1,523 students
Nearby schools
- FLORENCE EL0.5 mi · 509
- VANSTON MIDDLE0.6 mi · 728
- PIONEER TECHNOLOGY (PTAA) MESQUITE1.1 mi · 484
- LARRY G SMITH EL1.1 mi · 681
- PRICE EL1.3 mi · 299
- LAWRENCE EL1.4 mi · 284
Frequently asked questions
About SHANDS ELWhat is the total enrollment at SHANDS EL?
SHANDS EL enrolls approximately 567 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does SHANDS EL serve?
SHANDS EL serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at SHANDS EL?
The student-to-teacher ratio at SHANDS EL is approximately 13.1:1 (43 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at SHANDS EL?
Student demographics at SHANDS EL are roughly 5% White, 76% Hispanic, 16% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is SHANDS EL in?
SHANDS EL is part of MESQUITE ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.