Enrollment
302
Combined
STATE 485
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAELDER ISD·NCES 484431005063
WAELDER SCHOOL
201 US HWY 90 W, WAELDER, TX 78959 · (830) 239-5602 · Gonzales County
GRADES PK–12COMBINED43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL302 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
9.5:1
32 FTE teachers
STATE 11.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
90%
272 students
STATE 65%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other combined 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
Test scores
STAAR 2023-24 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
26.0%
TX avg 51.8% . +10.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
13.0%
TX avg 42.0% . +2.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 26 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 13 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 52 and 42. Reading scores are up about 10 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 2 points.
Source: STAAR. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of TX schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
19.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.6%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 20% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 35% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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
302
-19 (-6%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
9.5:1
was 10.7:1
% White
8%
was 4%
% Hispanic
86%
was 82%
% Black
5%
was 13%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About WAELDER SCHOOL
WAELDER SCHOOL is a cozy all-grades campus in WAELDER, Texas, overseen by WAELDER ISD. The school teaches 302 students in grades pre-K through 12. Enrollment runs roughly 38% below the state mean of about 485.
WAELDER ISD is the operating authority for WAELDER SCHOOL, handling staffing, calendars, and reporting to the state department of education.
In terms of who attends, WAELDER SCHOOL logs that the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (86%). Other groups include 8% White, 5% Black. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 51%.
Looking at the economic backdrop, The school currently runs with 32 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 9.5:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 11.7:1 average. An estimated 90% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Gonzales County (around 76%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.
After controlling for student poverty, On a poverty-adjusted basis, WAELDER SCHOOL sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 34.6%; actual is 19.6%, a gap of -14.9 points.
Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Gonzales County put the typical household earns roughly $58,672 per year, roughly 12% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 15%. In all, Gonzales County runs 15 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,908 students), of which WAELDER SCHOOL is one.
FLATONIA SECONDARY is the nearest neighboring public school, about 11.9 miles from this campus. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts WAELDER SCHOOL at 8th of 8; the average score across the group is 52.4%.
The school occupies a countryside site.
Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 6%: 321 students in 2018 compared to 302 in 2025. Over the same period, the Black share contracted from 13% to 5%. Class-load math has tightened: from 10.7:1 in 2018 to 9.5:1 in 2025.
Inside the community feed, recent activity here tends to focus on classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Gonzales County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
19,851
Census ACS
Median income
$58,672
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
12%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
15%
Below federal line
Schools in county
15
3,908 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Nearby schools
- FLATONIA SECONDARY11.9 mi · 327
- FLATONIA EL11.9 mi · 349
- MOULTON H S12.2 mi · 123
- MOULTON EL12.3 mi · 170
- GONZALES H S14.6 mi · 751
- GONZALES EL15.3 mi · 500
Frequently asked questions
About WAELDER SCHOOLHow many students attend WAELDER SCHOOL?
WAELDER SCHOOL enrolls approximately 302 students in grades PK-12.
Is WAELDER SCHOOL an elementary, middle, or high school?
WAELDER SCHOOL is a combined-grade school covering grades PK-12.
How many teachers does WAELDER SCHOOL have?
WAELDER SCHOOL employs 32 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 9.5:1.
What is the student diversity at WAELDER SCHOOL?
Student demographics at WAELDER SCHOOL are roughly 8% White, 86% Hispanic, 5% Black, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees WAELDER SCHOOL?
WAELDER SCHOOL is overseen by WAELDER ISD in Gonzales County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.