Enrollment
551
Texas · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 480005513347 Charter school
Life Middle Waxahachie — Waxahachie, TX
Federal NCES profile for Life Middle Waxahachie, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 52/100.
👥 Class size 38
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 45
📋 Attendance 55
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
District: Life School · Texas
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
39.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
15.4:1
vs 14.6:1 Texas avg
+5% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
47.3%
vs 61.9% Texas avg
-24% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Life Middle Waxahachie compares with Texas and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Life Middle Waxahachie reports 551 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 39.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 15.4:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 5% above the Texas state mean of 14.6:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 3% lower, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 47.3% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 24% below the Texas average and 9% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 276 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 18.1% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Life School spends $10,308 per pupil district-wide, below the Texas average of $17,150 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 1.5% from local sources (property taxes), 80.8% from the state, and 17.7% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 52/100 (C-), calculated from 4 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Life Middle Waxahachie compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Texas state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Texas | Texas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 15.4:1 | ▲ 5% | 14.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 47.3% | ▼ 24% | 61.9% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 551 | top 57% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
47.3%
free-lunch eligible
— 24% below the Texas average of 61.9%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
15.4:1
students per teacher
— 5% above state mean
Top 63% in Texas — lower ratio than 37% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
18.1%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Between 10–20% — above the pre-pandemic baseline of ~15% nationally but within the current U.S. range.
Funding equity
$10,308
per pupil, district-wide
— below Texas avg of $17,150
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 276 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
25
in-school suspensions + 65 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 4.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 16.3 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 12 expulsions.
Overview
Enrollment 551 Top 57% in Texas — larger than 43% of 9,061 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 39.0
Students per teacher 15.4:1 +5% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 47.3% -24% vs state
NCES ID 480005513347
Student demographics
African American 43.4%
Hispanic or Latino 40.8%
White 11.4%
Two or More 3.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.4%
Asian 0.2%
Largest group: African American at 43.4% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 2.0
Students per counselor 276:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 18.1%
In-school suspensions 25
Out-of-school suspensions 65
Expulsions 12
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Life School, which includes Life Middle Waxahachie.
$10,308
Per student
-40%
vs Texas
Avg $17,150
-47%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 1.5%
State 80.8%
Federal 17.7%
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.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,483
- Students per teacher
- 14.9:1
- Enrollment
- 1,114
- Students per teacher
- 15:1
- Enrollment
- 1,045
- Students per teacher
- 20.3:1
- Enrollment
- 455
- Students per teacher
- 17.3:1
- Enrollment
- 450
- Students per teacher
- 20.4:1
Similar middle schools in Waxahachie
3 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) serving the same city.
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Life Middle Waxahachie
How many students attend Life Middle Waxahachie?
Life Middle Waxahachie has 551 students enrolled. It is a middle school in WAXAHACHIE, TX.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Life Middle Waxahachie?
The student-teacher ratio at Life Middle Waxahachie is 15.4:1, which is 5% higher than the Texas average of 14.6:1 and 3% lower than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Life Middle Waxahachie?
47.3% of students at Life Middle Waxahachie are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Life Middle Waxahachie?
The largest demographic group at Life Middle Waxahachie is African American at 43.4%. The school serves a diverse student body in WAXAHACHIE, TX.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Life Middle Waxahachie?
Life Middle Waxahachie has a Resource Investment Index of 52/100 (C-) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.