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What's the one class at W H GASTON MIDDLE every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
757
Middle
DISTRICT 551 · STATE 643
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DALLAS ISD·NCES 481623001261
W H GASTON MIDDLE
9565 MERCER DR, DALLAS, TX 75228 · (972) 502-5400 · Dallas County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL757 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
49 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.0:1 · STATE 14.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
95%
717 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
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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
W H GASTON MIDDLE→BRYAN ADAMS H S LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
Feeds from
Based on published attendance-zone data from DALLAS ISD. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
STAAR 2023-24 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
44.0%
TX avg 51.8% . +20.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
32.0%
TX avg 42.0% . +12.0pp 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 32 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 52 and 42. Reading scores are up about 20 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 12 points.
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
36.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.5%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 37% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 33% 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
757
-222 (-23%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 13.9:1
% White
3%
was 4%
% Hispanic
83%
was 80%
% Black
12%
was 14%
% Asian
1%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About W H GASTON MIDDLE
W H GASTON MIDDLE is one of the mid-tier junior highs in DALLAS, Texas, operated by DALLAS ISD, with 757 students on its rolls from grades 6 through 8.
DALLAS ISD comprises 240 schools with combined enrollment of 140,630 students; W H GASTON MIDDLE is among them.
For racial and ethnic makeup, W H GASTON MIDDLE shows that nearly all students (83%) are Hispanic; the rest breaks down as 12% Black, 3% White. That is meaningfully more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 41%.
On the resource side, The school lists 49 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 15.4:1. The state averages around 14.4:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. About 95% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is above Dallas County's rate of about 77%.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, W H GASTON MIDDLE performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 32.5%, the actual is 36.9%, a residual of +4.4 points.
Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Dallas County) shows that median household earnings sit near $76,547, roughly 36% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, 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), W H GASTON MIDDLE is one campus in the mix.
REINHARDT EL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.8 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around W H GASTON MIDDLE. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), W H GASTON MIDDLE ranks 6th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 41.5%.
The school occupies a city-core site.
Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 23%: 979 students in 2018 compared to 757 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 13.9:1 in 2018 to 15.4:1 today.
In the discussion threads here, the feed for W H GASTON MIDDLE typically covers classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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 DALLAS ISD
- SKYLINE H SHigh · 3,837 students
- BRYAN ADAMS H S LEADERSHIP ACADEMYHigh · 2,208 students
- W T WHITE H SHigh · 2,204 students
- SUNSET H SHigh · 2,164 students
- MOISES E MOLINA H SHigh · 2,006 students
- WOODROW WILSON H SHigh · 1,832 students
Other schools in DALLAS
- SKYLINE H SHigh · 3,837 students
- LAKE HIGHLANDS H SHigh · 2,972 students
- OAK CLIFF FAITH FAMILY ACADEMYCombined · 2,670 students
- BRYAN ADAMS H S LEADERSHIP ACADEMYHigh · 2,208 students
- W T WHITE H SHigh · 2,204 students
- SUNSET H SHigh · 2,164 students
Nearby schools
- REINHARDT EL0.8 mi · 431
- BRYAN ADAMS H S LEADERSHIP ACADEMY0.8 mi · 2,208
- GEORGE W TRUETT EL0.9 mi · 987
- PREK PARTNERSHIP CENTER1.2 mi · 1,295
- S S CONNER EL1.2 mi · 557
- ALEX SANGER PREPARATORY SCHOOL1.3 mi · 769
Frequently asked questions
About W H GASTON MIDDLEWhat is the total enrollment at W H GASTON MIDDLE?
W H GASTON MIDDLE enrolls approximately 757 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does W H GASTON MIDDLE serve?
W H GASTON MIDDLE serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at W H GASTON MIDDLE?
The student-to-teacher ratio at W H GASTON MIDDLE is approximately 15.4:1 (49 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at W H GASTON MIDDLE?
At W H GASTON MIDDLE, the student body is approximately 3% White, 83% Hispanic, 12% Black, 1% Asian, 1% Two or more.
What district is W H GASTON MIDDLE in?
W H GASTON MIDDLE is part of DALLAS ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.