Middle school (grades 6-8) · Pharr, TX

Jaime Escalante Middle

Federal NCES profile for Jaime Escalante Middle, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 44/100.

2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 483486012589
0/100100/10044/100
👥 S:T ratio
58
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
49
📋 Attendance
0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Jaime Escalante Middle earns 44/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 87% of Texas schools. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Texas schools.

#3 of 5
middle schools in Pharr · Resource Index
44
Resource Index · Typical
10.5:1
small classes for Texas
98.9%
free-lunch eligible

Jaime Escalante Middle has class sizes smaller than 87% of Texas schools. Computed live against every Texas school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Jaime Escalante Middle ranks #3 of 5 middle schools in Pharr, TX.

School address

Enrollment

554

Texas · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

53.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

10.5:1

vs 14.7:1 Texas avg

-29% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

98.9%

vs 61.9% Texas avg

+60% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Jaime Escalante Middle compares with Texas and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Jaime Escalante Middle

Jaime Escalante Middle is a high-poverty, mid-sized middle school in Pharr, Texas, enrolling 554 students.

Classes run notably small here: at 10.5:1, Jaime Escalante Middle is leaner than roughly 87% of Texas schools and 29% under the state's 14.7:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.

Economic need is high: 98.9% of students qualify for free meals, 60% above the Texas average, a Title I-weighted population that federal funding formulas prioritise.

With 554 students, its enrollment sits close to the Texas median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 8,960 scored Texas schools.

Against 1,292 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #250.

Its student body is predominantly Hispanic or Latino (100% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 1/100).

Counselor coverage runs a bit thin, about 255 students per counselor, somewhat past the ASCA-recommended 250:1 benchmark.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 46.6% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Its district draws 29.3% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Isd also operates Psja Early College H S (2,300 students) and Psja North Early College H S (2,166 students) alongside Jaime Escalante Middle.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Jaime Escalante Middle compares

Jaime Escalante Middle on the metrics families compare, against Texas and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Texas Texas avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 10.5:1 ▼ 29% 14.7:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 98.9% ▲ 60% 61.9% 51.7%
Enrollment 554 top 43% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

10.5:1
Leaner classes than 86% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
554
Bigger than 68% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
98.9%
free-lunch eligible - 60% above the Texas average of 61.9%
Well above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold, among the highest-need profiles in the state; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
10.5:1
students per teacher - 29% below state mean
Top 13% in Texas - lower ratio than 87% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
46.6%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$14,594
per pupil, district-wide - above Texas avg of $13,644
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.2 FTE
Per 255 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 29 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 5.2 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

Hispanic or Latino 99.5%
White 0.4%
Asian 0.2%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 99.5% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 1.0/100

Simpson diversity index - at 1.0, Jaime Escalante Middle is less mixed than the Texas school average of 44.7.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Isd, which includes Jaime Escalante Middle.

$14,594
Per student
+7%
vs Texas
Avg $13,644
-12%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 16.0%
State 54.7%
Federal 29.3%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Jaime Escalante Middle Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Psja Early College H S Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Psja North Early College H S Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Psja Memorial Early College H S Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Psja Southwest Early College H S Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Lyndon B Johnson Middle Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Jaime Escalante Middle's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Isd · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar middle schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Texas, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Jaime Escalante Middle's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Jaime Escalante Middle

How many students attend Jaime Escalante Middle?

Jaime Escalante Middle has 554 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Pharr, TX.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Jaime Escalante Middle?

The student-teacher ratio at Jaime Escalante Middle is 10.5:1, which is 29% lower than the Texas average of 14.7:1 and 33% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Jaime Escalante Middle?

98.9% of students at Jaime Escalante Middle are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Jaime Escalante Middle?

The largest demographic group at Jaime Escalante Middle is Hispanic or Latino at 99.5% of enrollment, in Pharr, TX.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Jaime Escalante Middle?

Jaime Escalante Middle has a Resource Investment Index of 44/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Jaime Escalante Middle rank among middle schools in Pharr?

By Resource Investment Index, Jaime Escalante Middle ranks #3 of 5 middle schools in Pharr, TX. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all middle schools in Pharr on the city page.

Is Jaime Escalante Middle a good school?

Jaime Escalante Middle earns 44/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 87% of Texas schools. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Texas schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Isd?

Besides Jaime Escalante Middle, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Isd also operates Psja Early College H S (2,300 students), Psja North Early College H S (2,166 students), and Psja Memorial Early College H S (1,997 students). See the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Isd district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.