Enrollment
391
Texas · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Arlington, TX
Key El
Federal NCES profile for Key El, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 38/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 480870000252
👥 S:T ratio 46
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 22
📋 Attendance 16
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Key El earns 38/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Texas median. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Texas schools.
- #32 of 63
- schools in Arlington · Resource Index
- 38
- Resource Index · Typical
- 13.5:1
- students per teacher
- 70.3%
- free-lunch eligible
Key El has class sizes near the Texas median. Computed live against every Texas school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Key El ranks #32 of 63 schools in Arlington, TX.
School address
District: Arlington Isd · Texas
NCES ID 480870000252 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
29.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
13.5:1
vs 14.7:1 Texas avg
-8% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
70.3%
vs 61.9% Texas avg
+14% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Key El compares with Texas and U.S. medians
What stands out at Key El
Scale and staffing sit near the state mainstream
Key El is neither an extreme outlier in enrollment nor in student-teacher ratio among Texas schools. Its profile therefore turns on the other dimensions rather than on scale alone: economic need, counselor coverage, program access, attendance, and district finance. This middle placement is useful because it prevents the campus from being mislabeled as unusually large, small, crowded, or teacher-dense when the federal comparison does not support that claim.
Need and resources require a component-level read
Key El falls within the wide middle of the Texas distribution on both free-meal eligibility and the Resource Investment Index. Neither measure supplies an honest headline by itself. The useful distinctions are in the components: classroom staffing, counselor availability, attendance, gifted-program access, and district spending. Those fields can pull in opposite directions even when the overall percentile looks ordinary.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Key El's 33.8% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Key El is a higher-need, mid-sized combined-grade school in Arlington, Texas, enrolling 391 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 13.5:1 puts it in the smaller third of Texas schools by student-teacher ratio.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 70.3% lands close to the Texas typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
With 391 students, its enrollment sits close to the Texas median campus size.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 8,960 scored Texas schools.
Among 1,402 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need Texas schools statewide, it ranks #1,018, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by African American (42%) and Hispanic or Latino (37%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 67/100).
Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 391 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 33.8% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 19.1% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Arlington Isd also operates Martin H S (3,535 students) and Sam Houston H S (3,208 students) alongside Key El.
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 Key El compares
Key El on the metrics families compare, against Texas and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Texas | Texas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 13.5:1 | ▼ 8% | 14.7:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 70.3% | ▲ 14% | 61.9% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 391 | top 65% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
13.5:1
Leaner classes than 62% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
391
Bigger than 46% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
70.3%
free-lunch eligible
- 14% above the Texas average of 61.9%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
13.5:1
students per teacher
- 8% below state mean
Top 40% in Texas - lower ratio than 60% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
33.8%
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
$11,489
per pupil, district-wide
- below Texas avg of $13,644
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 391 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
12
in-school suspensions + 9 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 3.1 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 5.4 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
African American 42.2%
Hispanic or Latino 37.3%
White 11.3%
Two or More 5.6%
Asian 2.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.8%
Largest group: African American at 42.2% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 66.6/100
Simpson diversity index - at 66.6, Key El is more mixed than the Texas school average of 44.7.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Arlington Isd, which includes Key El.
$11,489
Per student
-16%
vs Texas
Avg $13,644
-31%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 57.0%
State 23.9%
Federal 19.1%
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 Key El Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin H S | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Sam Houston H S | Larger | Higher economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Arlington H S | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Lamar H S | Larger | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Bowie H S | Larger | Lower economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Key El's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 3,535
- Students per teacher
- 17.1:1
- Resource Index
- 46/100
- Enrollment
- 3,208
- Students per teacher
- 15.5:1
- Resource Index
- 52/100
- Enrollment
- 2,580
- Students per teacher
- 15.9:1
- Resource Index
- 50/100
- Enrollment
- 2,457
- Students per teacher
- 14.9:1
- Resource Index
- 54/100
- Enrollment
- 2,140
- Students per teacher
- 13.7:1
- Resource Index
- 42/100
Similar other 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.
Similar enrollment (~391 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Key El's federal record.
- Compare Key El against another school. Compare schools
- Arlington Isd's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
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 Key El
How many students attend Key El?
Key El has 391 students enrolled. It is a public school in Arlington, TX.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Key El?
The student-teacher ratio at Key El is 13.5:1, which is 8% lower than the Texas average of 14.7:1 and 14% 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 Key El?
70.3% of students at Key El are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Key El?
The largest demographic group at Key El is African American at 42.2% of enrollment, in Arlington, TX. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 66.6/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Key El?
Key El has a Resource Investment Index of 38/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Key El rank among schools in Arlington?
By Resource Investment Index, Key El ranks #32 of 63 schools in Arlington, TX. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Arlington on the city page.
What other schools are in Arlington Isd?
Besides Key El, Arlington Isd also operates Martin H S (3,535 students), Sam Houston H S (3,208 students), and Arlington H S (2,580 students). See the Arlington Isd district page for the complete list.
Related tools
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 July 2026.