Enrollment
216
Texas · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Penelope, TX
Penelope School
Federal NCES profile for Penelope School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 56/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 483456003885
👥 S:T ratio 59
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 14
📋 Attendance 80
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Penelope School earns 56/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 88% of Texas schools.
- 56
- Resource Index · Higher
- 10.3:1
- small classes for Texas
- 50.5%
- free-lunch eligible
- 216
- students enrolled
Penelope School has class sizes smaller than 88% of Texas schools. Computed live against every Texas school reporting to NCES.
School address
Teachers (FTE)
21.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
10.3:1
vs 14.7:1 Texas avg
-30% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
50.5%
vs 61.9% Texas avg
-18% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Penelope School compares with Texas and U.S. medians
What stands out at Penelope School
Penelope School is a higher-need, mid-sized combined-grade school in Penelope, Texas, enrolling 216 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 10.3:1, Penelope School is leaner than roughly 88% of Texas schools and 30% under the state's 14.7:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 50.5% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 216 puts it in the smaller third of Texas schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 8,960 scored Texas schools.
Against 545 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #253.
Its student body is led by White (59%) and Hispanic or Latino (36%) (diversity index 52/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 432 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Attendance holds up well here: only 7.9% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.
Penelope Isd operates only this one school, so Penelope School has no district-mates to compare against locally.
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 Penelope School compares
Penelope School on the metrics families compare, against Texas and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Texas | Texas avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 10.3:1 | ▼ 30% | 14.7:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 50.5% | ▼ 18% | 61.9% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 216 | top 83% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
10.3:1
Leaner classes than 87% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
216
Bigger than 21% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
50.5%
free-lunch eligible
- 18% 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
10.3:1
students per teacher
- 30% below state mean
Top 12% in Texas - lower ratio than 88% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
7.9%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 5-10% range, close to the pre-pandemic national baseline.
Funding equity
$13,653
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
Counselors0.5 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
32
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 14.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 14.8 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
White 59.3%
Hispanic or Latino 36.1%
African American 2.8%
Two or More 1.9%
Largest group: White at 59.3% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 51.7/100
Simpson diversity index - at 51.7, Penelope School is more mixed than the Texas school average of 44.7.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Penelope Isd, which includes Penelope School.
$13,653
Per student
+0%
vs Texas
Avg $13,644
-18%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 16.2%
State 72.1%
Federal 11.7%
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.
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 (~216 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~10.3:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Penelope School's federal record.
- Compare Penelope School against another school. Compare schools
- Penelope 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 Penelope School
How many students attend Penelope School?
Penelope School has 216 students enrolled. It is a public school in Penelope, TX.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Penelope School?
The student-teacher ratio at Penelope School is 10.3:1, which is 30% lower than the Texas average of 14.7:1 and 34% 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 Penelope School?
50.5% of students at Penelope School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Penelope School?
The largest demographic group at Penelope School is White at 59.3% of enrollment, in Penelope, TX. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 51.7/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Penelope School?
Penelope School has a Resource Investment Index of 56/100 (higher 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).
Is Penelope School a good school?
Penelope School earns 56/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 88% of 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 Penelope Isd?
None reported; Penelope Isd operates only Penelope School as a public school district in NCES's records.
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 June 2026.