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What do students at TENNYSON MIDDLE actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
963
Middle
DISTRICT 824 · STATE 643
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WACO ISD·NCES 484428005058
Tennyson Middle School
6001 SANGER AVE, WACO, TX 76710 · (254) 772-1440 · McLennan County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL963 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
62 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.2:1 · STATE 14.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
82%
789 students
DISTRICT 89% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 333 | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 331 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 299 | 31% |
Student demographics
57%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
44.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +17.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
27.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -1.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 44 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 27 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 17 points since 2020, while math scores are down about 1 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 21.0% | 23.0% | 25.0% | 31.0% |
| Mathematics | 8.0% | 19.0% | 27.0% | 46.0% |
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 | 44.0% | 27.0% |
| 2024-25 | 50.0% | 29.0% |
| 2023-24 | 47.0% | 30.0% |
| 2022-23 | 37.0% | 29.0% |
| 2021-22 | 35.0% | 29.0% |
| 2020-21 | 27.0% | 28.0% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
35.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
38.7%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 39% 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 →
Schools most like Tennyson Middle School
Tennyson Middle School's state test result (35.0% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennyson Middle School this school | 963 | 81.9% | 35.0% |
| Henry Metzger Middle School SAN ANTONIO | 991 | 78.5% | 28.5% |
| Michael R Null Middle School HOUSTON | 1,050 | 82.5% | 29.7% |
| Dr Don Woolley Middle School MESQUITE | 1,037 | 79.5% | 32.8% |
| Agnew Middle School MESQUITE | 1,070 | 78.2% | 41.6% |
| McMichael Middle School NACOGDOCHES | 1,275 | 81.6% | 30.5% |
Matched among Texas middle 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 Tennyson Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In McLennan County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.0% | #1,165 of 1,635 | #15 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 27.0% | #1,489 of 1,670 ▼ 142 | #16 of 21 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.0% | #1,341 of 1,670 ▼ 376 | #15 of 21 ▼ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +2.5pp | #1,242 of 1,570 | #15 of 21 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 963 | #322 of 1,749 | #2 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.6:1 | #998 of 1,542 | #14 of 17 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 57.5% | #594 of 1,543 | #5 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 81.9% | #466 of 1,648 | #5 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.5% | #354 of 437 | #7 of 10 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
963
+24 (+3%) vs 2020
+87% since 1990-91, when it was 515
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
was 14.7:1
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 | 963 | 61.9 | 15.6:1 | 82% (789) |
| 2023-24 | 947 | 67 | 14.1:1 | 86% (816) |
| 2022-23 | 999 | 65 | 15.4:1 | 86% (862) |
| 2020-21 | 939 | 64 | 14.7:1 | 90% (844) |
| 2017-18 | 930 | 63.6 | 14.6:1 | 79% (736) |
| 2015-16 | 881 | 55 | 16.0:1 | 79% (697) |
| 2010-11 | 589 | 42 | 14.0:1 | 79% (467) |
| 2000-01 | 425 | 27 | 15.7:1 | 61% (258) |
| 1990-91 | 515 | 36 | 14.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Tennyson Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (930 to 963); teachers down 3% (63.6 to 61.9).
About Tennyson Middle School
Tennyson Middle School operates as a mid-sized middle-grades school in WACO, Texas. It has an enrollment of 963 students in grades 6 through 8. Middle schools in Texas average about 643 students, which makes this school 50% bigger than average.
Federal data list 24 schools in WACO ISD, with 13,476 students enrolled.
The largest group at Tennyson Middle School is Hispanic students, at 58%. The remaining students are 28% Black, 11% White, and 2% multiracial. Among people living in McLennan County, the Hispanic share is about 27%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Tennyson Middle School scores 57%.
Staffing at Tennyson Middle School comes to 61.9 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 15.6:1. The school's 15.6:1 compares with an average of 14.4:1 for middle schools in Texas. On the income side, 82% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The rate at public schools in McLennan County averages 62%, lower than here.
Tennyson Middle School is 3.7 points below its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results (35.0% versus 38.7%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Texas.
Looking at the county, McLennan County, the median household earns about $66,643 a year, 29% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Tennyson Middle School, McLennan County has 124 public schools.
Among nearby public schools, Parkdale Elementary School is closest at about 0.2 miles. Tennyson Middle School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Tennyson Middle School comes in 3rd of 9 nearby schools on average proficiency.
The federal government classifies Tennyson Middle School's location as City: Mid-size.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, Tennyson Middle School had a net gain of 24 students, or 3%.
This page is set up for the Tennyson Middle School community to discuss homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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
- Bell's Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 786 students
- Cesar Chavez Middle SchoolMiddle · 786 students
- Lake Air Montessori SchoolElementary · 734 students
- G W Carver Middle SchoolMiddle · 723 students
Other schools in WACO
- Midway High SchoolHigh · 2,687 students
- Waco High SchoolHigh · 1,885 students
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,752 students
- La Vega High SchoolHigh · 881 students
- Bell's Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 786 students
- Cesar Chavez Middle SchoolMiddle · 786 students
Nearby schools
- Parkdale Elementary School0.2 mi · 497
- Harmony Science Academy (waco)0.7 mi · 569
- Crestview Elementary School1.3 mi · 464
- Mountainview Elementary School1.3 mi · 349
- Waco High School1.4 mi · 1,885
- Lake Air Montessori School1.6 mi · 734
Frequently asked questions
About Tennyson Middle SchoolHow many students attend Tennyson Middle School?
Tennyson Middle School enrolls approximately 963 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Tennyson Middle School serve?
Tennyson Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many teachers does Tennyson Middle School have?
Tennyson Middle School employs 62 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.6:1.
What is the student diversity at Tennyson Middle School?
Student demographics at Tennyson Middle School are roughly 11% White, 58% Hispanic, 28% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is Tennyson Middle School in?
Tennyson Middle School is part of WACO ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.