Enrollment
356
Texas · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Sullivan City, TX
Sam Fordyce El
Federal NCES profile for Sam Fordyce El, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 37/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 482613009306
👥 S:T ratio 47
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 29
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Sam Fordyce El earns 37/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Texas median. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Texas schools.
- 37
- Resource Index · Typical
- 13.2:1
- students per teacher
- 89.1%
- free-lunch eligible
- 356
- students enrolled
Sam Fordyce El has class sizes near the Texas median. Computed live against every Texas school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: La Joya Isd · Texas
NCES ID 482613009306 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
27.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
13.2:1
vs 14.7:1 Texas avg
-10% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
89.1%
vs 61.9% Texas avg
+44% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Sam Fordyce El compares with Texas and U.S. medians
What stands out at Sam Fordyce El
Sam Fordyce El is a high-poverty, mid-sized combined-grade school in Sullivan City, Texas, enrolling 356 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 13.2:1 puts it in the smaller third of Texas schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need is high: 89.1% of students qualify for free meals, 44% above the Texas average, a Title I-weighted population that federal funding formulas prioritise.
Enrollment of 356 puts it in the smaller third of Texas schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 8,960 scored Texas schools.
Against 1,313 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #824.
Its student body is predominantly Hispanic or Latino (100% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 0/100).
Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 356 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 54.2% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 31.6% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
La Joya Isd also operates La Joya H S (2,405 students) and La Joya Palmview H S (2,073 students) alongside Sam Fordyce 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 Sam Fordyce El compares
Sam Fordyce 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 | 13.2:1 | ▼ 10% | 14.7:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 89.1% | ▲ 44% | 61.9% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 356 | top 69% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
13.2:1
Leaner classes than 65% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
356
Bigger than 41% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
89.1%
free-lunch eligible
- 44% 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
13.2:1
students per teacher
- 10% below state mean
Top 36% in Texas - lower ratio than 64% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
54.2%
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
$15,142
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
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 356 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 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 100.0%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 100.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 0.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 0.0, Sam Fordyce El is less mixed than the Texas school average of 44.7.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for La Joya Isd, which includes Sam Fordyce El.
$15,142
Per student
+11%
vs Texas
Avg $13,644
-9%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 10.3%
State 58.1%
Federal 31.6%
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 Sam Fordyce El Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Joya H S | Larger | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| La Joya Palmview H S | Larger | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Juarez-Lincoln H S | Larger | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Enrique Kiki Camarena El | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| John F Kennedy El | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Sam Fordyce El's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 2,405
- Students per teacher
- 11.3:1
- Resource Index
- 59/100
- Enrollment
- 2,073
- Students per teacher
- 13.8:1
- Resource Index
- 56/100
- Enrollment
- 1,952
- Students per teacher
- 12.1:1
- Resource Index
- 61/100
- Enrollment
- 715
- Students per teacher
- 18.8:1
- Resource Index
- 36/100
- Enrollment
- 676
- Students per teacher
- 16.9:1
- Resource Index
- 28/100
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 (~356 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~13.2:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Sam Fordyce El's federal record.
- Compare Sam Fordyce El against another school. Compare schools
- La Joya 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 Sam Fordyce El
How many students attend Sam Fordyce El?
Sam Fordyce El has 356 students enrolled. It is a public school in Sullivan City, TX.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sam Fordyce El?
The student-teacher ratio at Sam Fordyce El is 13.2:1, which is 10% lower than the Texas average of 14.7:1 and 16% 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 Sam Fordyce El?
89.1% of students at Sam Fordyce El are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Sam Fordyce El?
The largest demographic group at Sam Fordyce El is Hispanic or Latino at 100.0% of enrollment, in Sullivan City, TX.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Sam Fordyce El?
Sam Fordyce El has a Resource Investment Index of 37/100 (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).
Is Sam Fordyce El a good school?
Sam Fordyce El earns 37/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Texas median. 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 La Joya Isd?
Besides Sam Fordyce El, La Joya Isd also operates La Joya H S (2,405 students), La Joya Palmview H S (2,073 students), and Juarez-Lincoln H S (1,952 students). See the La Joya 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 June 2026.