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

Stell Middle

Federal NCES profile for Stell Middle, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 42/100.

2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 481168000668
0/100100/10042/100
👥 S:T ratio
48
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
51
📋 Attendance
0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Stell Middle earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Texas median. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Texas schools.

#7 of 10
middle schools in Brownsville · Resource Index
42
Resource Index · Typical
12.9:1
students per teacher
73.0%
free-lunch eligible

Stell Middle has class sizes near the Texas median. Computed live against every Texas school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Stell Middle ranks #7 of 10 middle schools in Brownsville, TX.

School address

Enrollment

733

Texas · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

57.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

12.9:1

vs 14.7:1 Texas avg

-12% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

73.0%

vs 61.9% Texas avg

+18% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Stell Middle compares with Texas and U.S. medians

At or below 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 Stell Middle

Stell Middle is a higher-need, mid-sized middle school in Brownsville, Texas, enrolling 733 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 12.9:1 puts it in the smaller third of Texas schools by student-teacher ratio.

Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 73.0% of students eligible for free meals.

Enrollment of 733 puts it in the larger third of Texas schools by headcount.

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

Against 1,826 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #618.

Its student body is predominantly Hispanic or Latino (99% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 2/100).

Counselor coverage is strong, about 244 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 49.8% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Its district draws 30.3% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Brownsville Isd also operates Veterans Memorial Early College H S (2,216 students) and Rivera Early College H S (2,150 students) alongside Stell 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 Stell Middle compares

Stell 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 12.9:1 ▼ 12% 14.7:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 73.0% ▲ 18% 61.9% 51.7%
Enrollment 733 top 24% - -

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

12.9:1
Leaner classes than 68% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
733
Bigger than 82% of US schools by enrollment, a large campus nationally.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
73.0%
free-lunch eligible - 18% 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
12.9:1
students per teacher - 12% below state mean
Top 33% in Texas - lower ratio than 67% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
49.8%
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
$14,009
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
Counselors3.0 FTE
Per 244 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
7
in-school suspensions + 44 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 7.0 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 98.8%
White 1.0%
African American 0.3%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 98.8% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 2.4/100

Simpson diversity index - at 2.4, Stell Middle is less mixed than the Texas school average of 44.7.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Brownsville Isd, which includes Stell Middle.

$14,009
Per student
+3%
vs Texas
Avg $13,644
-16%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 13.9%
State 55.9%
Federal 30.3%

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 Stell Middle Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Veterans Memorial Early College H S Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Rivera Early College H S Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Hanna Early College H S Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Lopez Early College H S Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Pace Early College H S Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio

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

Other Schools in This District

Brownsville 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 Stell 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 Stell Middle

How many students attend Stell Middle?

Stell Middle has 733 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Brownsville, TX.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Stell Middle?

The student-teacher ratio at Stell Middle is 12.9:1, which is 12% lower than the Texas average of 14.7:1 and 18% 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 Stell Middle?

73.0% of students at Stell Middle are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Stell Middle?

The largest demographic group at Stell Middle is Hispanic or Latino at 98.8% of enrollment, in Brownsville, TX.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Stell Middle?

Stell Middle has a Resource Investment Index of 42/100 (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 Stell Middle rank among middle schools in Brownsville?

By Resource Investment Index, Stell Middle ranks #7 of 10 middle schools in Brownsville, 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 Brownsville on the city page.

Is Stell Middle a good school?

Stell Middle earns 42/100 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 Brownsville Isd?

Besides Stell Middle, Brownsville Isd also operates Veterans Memorial Early College H S (2,216 students), Rivera Early College H S (2,150 students), and Hanna Early College H S (2,039 students). See the Brownsville 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.

View saved

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.