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What tradition at THIGPEN-ZAVALA EL should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
470
Elementary
DISTRICT 496 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MCALLEN ISD·NCES 482967011960
Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School
2500 GALVESTON AVE, MCALLEN, TX 78501 · (956) 971-4377 · Hidalgo County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL470 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
97%
454 students
DISTRICT 75% · 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 | 138 | 29% |
| Kindergarten | 55 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 53 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 56 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 57 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 60 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 51 | 11% |
Student demographics
3%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 12% · 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
71.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +53.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
62.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +39.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 71 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 62 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 53 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 39 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 32.0% | 39.0% | 16.0% | 13.0% |
| Mathematics | 32.0% | 30.0% | 21.0% | 17.0% |
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 | 71.0% | 62.0% |
| 2024-25 | 72.0% | 62.0% |
| 2023-24 | 64.0% | 67.0% |
| 2022-23 | 60.0% | 67.0% |
| 2021-22 | 58.0% | 56.0% |
| 2020-21 | 18.0% | 23.0% |
% 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
64.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.4%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+31.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 64% 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 32 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 Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Hidalgo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 64.0% | #559 of 4,401 | #11 of 181 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 62.0% | #831 of 4,466 | #18 of 183 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 71.0% | #683 of 4,466 | #8 of 183 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +3.0pp | #2,433 of 3,998 | #115 of 180 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 470 | #2,828 of 4,938 | #113 of 192 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.9:1 | #2,370 of 4,622 | #52 of 185 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 3.0% | #4,420 of 4,628 | #91 of 185 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -19.8% | #1,190 of 2,838 | #58 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
470
-116 (-20%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
was 15.0:1
% White
0%
was 1%
% Hispanic
99%
was 99%
% Black
0%
was 0%
% Asian
1%
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 | 470 | 31.5 | 14.9:1 | 97% (454) |
| 2023-24 | 493 | 36.8 | 13.4:1 | 96% (471) |
| 2022-23 | 494 | 32.7 | 15.1:1 | 94% (466) |
| 2017-18 | 586 | 39 | 15.0:1 | 96% (561) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School.
About Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School
Among the schools in MCALLEN, Texas, is Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School, a medium-sized elementary school. School enrollment was 470 students in 2024-25, in pre-K through 5.
The district, MCALLEN ISD, has 19,890 students enrolled across 31 schools.
The large majority of students at Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School, 99%, are Hispanic. Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School has a diversity index of 3%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Federal records show a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.9:1 at Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School, with 31.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. Across elementary schools in Texas, the average ratio is about 15.1:1. The count of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch equals 97% of enrollment. The average for public schools in Hidalgo County is 85%.
Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School is in the top 10% of Texas schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 32.4%. The school's actual rate is 64.0%, 31.6 points higher.
In the county around the school, Hidalgo County, median household income is about $54,338, about 21% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 23%. A total of 364 public schools operate in Hidalgo County, serving about 212,859 students.
The school nearest to Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School is Instr/Guid Center, at a distance of about 0.1 miles. Within five miles of Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School, there are at least 8 other public schools. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 49.1%; Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School's is 64.0%, ranking 2nd of 7.
Its location is classified as City: Mid-size by the National Center for Education Statistics.
From 2017-18 to 2024-25, Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School went from 586 students to 470.
Posts about school safety, transportation, and start times are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
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 MCALLEN ISD
- McAllen High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Memorial High SchoolHigh · 2,021 students
- Rowe High SchoolHigh · 1,905 students
- Morris Middle SchoolMiddle · 999 students
- Cathey Middle SchoolMiddle · 827 students
- Gonzalez Elementary SchoolElementary · 818 students
Other schools in MCALLEN
- McAllen High SchoolHigh · 2,134 students
- Memorial High SchoolHigh · 2,021 students
- Morris Middle SchoolMiddle · 999 students
- Cathey Middle SchoolMiddle · 827 students
- IDEA McAllen College PreparatoryHigh · 820 students
- Gonzalez Elementary SchoolElementary · 818 students
Nearby schools
- Instr/Guid Center0.1 mi · 60
- Triumph Public High Schools-McAllen0.8 mi · 118
- Alvarez Elementary School0.9 mi · 435
- Escandon Elementary School0.9 mi · 478
- Horizon Montessori - STEM Academy1.1 mi · 331
- Wilson Elementary School1.3 mi · 408
Frequently asked questions
About Thigpen-Zavala Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School?
Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School enrolls approximately 470 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School serve?
Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School have?
Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School employs 32 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.9:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School?
At Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School, the student body is approximately 0% White, 99% Hispanic, 1% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Is Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School public or private?
Thigpen-Zavala Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by MCALLEN ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.