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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the WARD EL administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
502
Elementary
DISTRICT 502 · STATE 519
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ABILENE ISD·NCES 480744002238
Ward Elementary School
3750 PAINT BRUSH, ABILENE, TX 79606 · (325) 690-3666 · Taylor County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL502 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.3:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
58%
290 students
DISTRICT 69% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 85 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 81 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 94 | 19% |
| Grade 3 | 84 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 90 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 68 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (85) is 25% larger than its 5th grade class (68).
Student demographics
68%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
53.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +24.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
41.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -2.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 53 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 41 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 24 points since 2020, while math scores are down about 2 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 25.0% | 28.0% | 24.0% | 23.0% |
| Mathematics | 17.0% | 24.0% | 23.0% | 36.0% |
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 | 53.0% | 41.0% |
| 2024-25 | 59.0% | 37.0% |
| 2023-24 | 57.0% | 34.0% |
| 2022-23 | 46.0% | 38.0% |
| 2021-22 | 69.0% | 46.0% |
| 2020-21 | 29.0% | 43.0% |
% 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
43.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.0%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% 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 Ward Elementary School
Ward Elementary School's state test result (43.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ward Elementary School this school | 502 | 57.8% | 43.5% |
| Castleman Creek Elementary School HEWITT | 570 | 56.5% | 51.3% |
| Belton Early Childhood School BELTON | 494 | 59.1% | N/A |
| Sarah Strinden Elementary School LUFKIN | 512 | 60.7% | 46.6% |
| Hewitt Elementary School HEWITT | 511 | 59.7% | 51.2% |
| Bowie Elementary School CORSICANA | 494 | 59.1% | 45.2% |
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 Ward Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Taylor County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 43.5% | #2,145 of 4,401 | #8 of 19 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 41.0% | #2,688 of 4,466 ▲ 329 | #9 of 19 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 53.0% | #2,106 of 4,466 ▼ 635 | #7 of 19 ▼ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +5.0pp | #2,114 of 3,998 | #7 of 13 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 502 | #2,519 of 4,938 | #11 of 23 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.4:1 | #2,780 of 4,622 | #12 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 67.5% | #758 of 4,628 | #5 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 57.8% | #3,228 of 4,789 | #13 of 23 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -11.2% | #1,931 of 2,838 | #11 of 15 |
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
502
-12 (-2%) vs 2020
+14% since 2000-01, when it was 441
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 14.7:1
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 | 502 | 32.7 | 15.4:1 | 58% (290) |
| 2023-24 | 473 | 31.9 | 14.8:1 | 65% (307) |
| 2022-23 | 494 | 31 | 15.9:1 | 52% (258) |
| 2020-21 | 514 | 35 | 14.7:1 | 49% (252) |
| 2017-18 | 565 | 32.3 | 17.5:1 | 51% (286) |
| 2015-16 | 569 | 34 | 16.7:1 | 44% (249) |
| 2010-11 | 570 | 34 | 16.8:1 | 45% (255) |
| 2000-01 | 441 | 32 | 13.8:1 | 11% (48) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ward Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 11% (565 to 502); teachers up 1% (32.3 to 32.7).
About Ward Elementary School
Ward Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school in ABILENE, Texas, (ZIP code 79606). It teaches 502 students in kindergarten through 5.
ABILENE ISD runs 26 schools with a combined 14,536 students. Ward Elementary School is one of them.
The biggest share of students at Ward Elementary School, 39%, is White. The next largest groups are 39% Hispanic, 13% Black, 5% multiracial, and 4% Asian. In Taylor County overall, about 67% of residents are White. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 68%.
There are 32.7 full-time-equivalent teachers at the school, a ratio of 15.4:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in Texas is similar, at 15.1:1. On the income side, 58% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Ward Elementary School is -5.5 points: 43.5% actual, 49.0% predicted.
The school is in Taylor County, where median household income comes to about $67,139, 29% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of people live in poverty. Taylor County's 54 public schools enroll about 24,159 students and include Ward Elementary School.
Madison Middle School is about 1.2 miles away, making it the nearest public school. Ward Elementary School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Ward Elementary School ranks 3rd of 6 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 43.5% against a local average of 42.2%.
Ward Elementary School is coded as City: Mid-size in federal locale data.
Enrollment has been fairly stable: 514 in 2020-21 and 502 in 2024-25.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. You can also rate the school on this page.
Taylor County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
145,863
Census ACS
Median income
$67,139
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
54
24,159 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in ABILENE ISD
- Abilene High SchoolHigh · 1,798 students
- Cooper High SchoolHigh · 1,570 students
- Mann Middle SchoolMiddle · 776 students
- Craig Middle SchoolMiddle · 771 students
- Madison Middle SchoolMiddle · 770 students
- Austin Elementary SchoolElementary · 729 students
Other schools in ABILENE
- Abilene High SchoolHigh · 1,798 students
- Cooper High SchoolHigh · 1,570 students
- Wylie High SchoolHigh · 1,537 students
- Wylie West Junior High SchoolMiddle · 1,038 students
- Texas Leadership of AbileneCombined · 834 students
- Mann Middle SchoolMiddle · 776 students
Other Ward Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 3 states are named Ward Elementary. Ward Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 4.
- Ward Elementary SchoolSAN ANTONIO, TX · 763 students
- Ward ElementaryWinston-Salem, NC · 489 students
- Ward Elementary SchoolShidler, OK · 88 students
Nearby schools
- Madison Middle School1.2 mi · 770
- Alcorta Elementary School1.3 mi · 410
- Cooper High School1.4 mi · 1,570
- Austin Elementary School1.5 mi · 729
- Premier H S of Abilene1.5 mi · 176
- Texasworks - Abilene1.5 mi · 36
Frequently asked questions
About Ward Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Ward Elementary School?
Ward Elementary School enrolls approximately 502 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Ward Elementary School serve?
Ward Elementary School serves grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Ward Elementary School have?
Ward Elementary School employs 33 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.4:1.
What is the student diversity at Ward Elementary School?
Student demographics at Ward Elementary School are roughly 39% White, 39% Hispanic, 13% Black, 4% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Ward Elementary School in?
Ward Elementary School is part of ABILENE ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.