1
Enrollment
586
Elementary
DISTRICT 475 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·GARLAND ISD·NCES 482034016969
Vernal Lister Elementary School
3131 MARS DR, GARLAND, TX 75040 · (972) 675-3030 · Dallas County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL586 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 44% of Texas public elementary schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A-Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Texas public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
40 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.6:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
79%
465 students
DISTRICT 76% · 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 | 62 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 96 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 92 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 100 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 84 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 81 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 71 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (96) is 35% larger than its 5th grade class (71).
Student demographics
73%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 65% · 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
57.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +35.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
49.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +24.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 49 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 35 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 24 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 29.0% | 28.0% | 15.0% | 28.0% |
| Mathematics | 23.0% | 26.0% | 21.0% | 30.0% |
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 | 57.0% | 49.0% |
| 2024-25 | 49.0% | 49.0% |
| 2023-24 | 39.0% | 42.0% |
| 2022-23 | 38.0% | 41.0% |
| 2021-22 | 38.0% | 45.0% |
| 2020-21 | 22.0% | 25.0% |
% 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
38.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.8%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 38% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 40% 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 Vernal Lister Elementary School
Vernal Lister Elementary School's state test result (38.5% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vernal Lister Elementary School this school | 586 | 79.4% | 38.5% |
| Colonies North Elementary School SAN ANTONIO | 513 | 79.7% | 24.1% |
| Forestridge Elementary School DALLAS | 497 | 86.3% | 29.7% |
| Hickman Elementary School GARLAND | 484 | 80.6% | 50.2% |
| Chancellor Elementary School HOUSTON | 707 | 89.1% | 43.0% |
| Beckham Elementary School ARLINGTON | 392 | 79.6% | 50.0% |
Matched among Texas elementary 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 Vernal Lister Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Dallas County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 38.5% | #2,780 of 4,401 | #208 of 421 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 49.0% | #1,851 of 4,466 ▼ 140 | #144 of 429 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 57.0% | #1,729 of 4,466 ▲ 845 | #124 of 429 ▲ 74 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +13.5pp | #1,024 of 3,998 | #83 of 399 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 586 | #1,720 of 4,938 | #131 of 448 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.8:1 | #2,250 of 4,622 | #203 of 432 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 73.2% | #230 of 4,628 | #20 of 433 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 79.4% | #2,000 of 4,789 | #288 of 437 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +24.9% | #318 of 1,307 | #23 of 118 |
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. 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
586
+172 (+42%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
was 14.8:1
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 | 586 | 39.6 | 14.8:1 | 79% (465) |
| 2023-24 | 567 | 43.7 | 13.0:1 | 78% (441) |
| 2022-23 | 537 | 38.4 | 14.0:1 | 74% (395) |
| 2020-21 | 414 | 28 | 14.8:1 | 70% (289) |
| 2017-18 | 469 | 30.4 | 15.4:1 | 65% (303) |
| 2015-16 | 496 | 32 | 15.5:1 | 61% (305) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Vernal Lister Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 25% (469 to 586); teachers up 30% (30.4 to 39.6).
About Vernal Lister Elementary School
Students in GARLAND, Texas, attend Vernal Lister Elementary School, a mid-sized elementary school. In all, 586 students attend the school in pre-K through 5.
Vernal Lister Elementary School sits within GARLAND ISD, which has 76 schools and 53,173 students.
The largest group at Vernal Lister Elementary School is Hispanic students, at 35%. After that, the student body is 31% Asian, 20% Black, 9% White, and 5% multiracial. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 73%.
The school has 39.6 full-time-equivalent teachers and a ratio of 14.8 students per teacher. It is about the same as the 15.1:1 average for elementary schools in Texas. The school reported 79% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. Public schools in Dallas County average a similar 77%.
On the allk12 Grade, Vernal Lister Elementary School lands at C+, ahead of 44% of Texas public elementary schools.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Vernal Lister Elementary School would be expected to post about 39.8%. Its actual average proficiency rate across its state test results is 38.5%.
American Community Survey estimates for Dallas County show that the median household earns about $76,547 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 36%, and about 11% of people live in poverty. Dallas County has 771 public schools with about 459,645 students, including Vernal Lister Elementary School.
Of the public schools around it, Vernal Lister Elementary School is closest to Harmony Science Academy - Garland, about 1.0 miles away. Vernal Lister Elementary School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Vernal Lister Elementary School ranks 8th of 9 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 38.5% against a local average of 49.0%.
The school's locale code, Suburb: Large, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment records show 414 in 2020-21 and 586 in 2024-25. Because schools sometimes add or drop grades, the two numbers may not be directly comparable.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback here. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
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 GARLAND ISD
- Sachse High SchoolHigh · 2,935 students
- N Garland High SchoolHigh · 2,929 students
- Garland High SchoolHigh · 2,335 students
- Rowlett High SchoolHigh · 2,156 students
- Lakeview Centennial High SchoolHigh · 2,073 students
- S Garland High SchoolHigh · 2,001 students
Other schools in GARLAND
- N Garland High SchoolHigh · 2,929 students
- Garland High SchoolHigh · 2,335 students
- Lakeview Centennial High SchoolHigh · 2,073 students
- S Garland High SchoolHigh · 2,001 students
- Naaman Forest High SchoolHigh · 1,949 students
- Jackson Technology CenterMiddle · 1,157 students
Nearby schools
- Harmony Science Academy - Garland1.0 mi · 759
- Harmony School of Innovation - Garland1.1 mi · 658
- Weaver Elementary School1.2 mi · 460
- Northlake Elementary School1.3 mi · 526
- Sellers Middle School1.7 mi · 852
- Naaman Forest High School1.7 mi · 1,949
Frequently asked questions
About Vernal Lister Elementary SchoolHow large is Vernal Lister Elementary School?
Vernal Lister Elementary School enrolls approximately 586 students in grades PK-05.
Is Vernal Lister Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Vernal Lister Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Vernal Lister Elementary School?
Approximately 14.8:1 students per teacher at Vernal Lister Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Vernal Lister Elementary School?
Student demographics at Vernal Lister Elementary School are roughly 9% White, 35% Hispanic, 20% Black, 31% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Vernal Lister Elementary School public or private?
Vernal Lister Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by GARLAND ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.