THOMAS EL

Set in PLANO, Texas, THOMAS EL is a moderately sized elementary campus, one of the schools within PLANO ISD. It educates 687 students across grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 32% bigger than the typical public school in Texas, which averages around 519 students.

PLANO ISD runs 73 schools in total, collectively educating 46,612 students. THOMAS EL is one of those campuses.

Demographically, THOMAS EL logs that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 62% of enrollment. Other groups include 15% Black, 13% White, 5% Asian, 5% multiracial. By comparison, Collin County as a whole is about 16% Hispanic, so the school skews visibly more Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 53 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.0:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 15.1:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 77% of students at THOMAS EL qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is above Collin County's rate of about 30%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, THOMAS EL tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 40.3% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 30.6%.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Collin County indicate the typical household earns roughly $121,600 per year, roughly 56% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Collin County runs 338 public schools (combined enrollment of about 227,575 students), of which THOMAS EL is one.

The closest other public school is CARLISLE EL, roughly 0.8 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts THOMAS EL at 9th of 9; the average score across the group is 58.4%.

The campus sits in a high-density setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked up 4%: 663 students in 2018 compared to 687 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share ticked up from 49% to 62%. The student-to-teacher ratio grew from 11.4:1 in 2018 to 13.0:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for THOMAS EL typically covers school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.