Enrollment
517
Texas · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Arlington, TX
Swift El
Federal NCES profile for Swift El, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 32/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 480870000265
👥 S:T ratio 44
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 16
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Swift El earns 32/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Texas median. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Texas schools.
- #51 of 63
- schools in Arlington · Resource Index
- 32
- Resource Index · Typical
- 14:1
- students per teacher
- 78.1%
- free-lunch eligible
Swift El has class sizes near the Texas median. Computed live against every Texas school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Swift El ranks #51 of 63 schools in Arlington, TX.
School address
District: Arlington Isd · Texas
NCES ID 480870000265 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
37.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
14:1
vs 14.7:1 Texas avg
-5% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
78.1%
vs 61.9% Texas avg
+26% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Swift El compares with Texas and U.S. medians
What stands out at Swift El
Scale and staffing sit near the state mainstream
Swift 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.
The composite reveals a resource-side weakness
Swift El's free-meal eligibility sits closer to the broad Texas middle than to an extreme, but its Resource Investment Index falls near the lower end of scored schools. That makes the composite itself the notable signal rather than student need. Inspecting the underlying factors matters here: a low score can result from thin counselor coverage, limited gifted access, attendance pressure, or heavier classroom staffing, and those are different operational problems.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Swift 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.
Swift El is a high-poverty, mid-sized combined-grade school in Arlington, Texas, enrolling 517 students.
At 14:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Texas median, within a few percentage points of the 14.7:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 78.1% of students eligible for free meals.
With 517 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 2,144 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need Texas schools statewide, it ranks #1,723, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (40%) and African American (32%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 70/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 517 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
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 Swift 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 Swift El compares
Swift 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 | 14:1 | ▼ 5% | 14.7:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 78.1% | ▲ 26% | 61.9% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 517 | top 47% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
14:1
Leaner classes than 57% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
517
Bigger than 64% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
78.1%
free-lunch eligible
- 26% 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
14:1
students per teacher
- 5% below state mean
Top 47% in Texas - lower ratio than 53% 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
$11,746
per pupil, district-wide
- below Texas avg of $14,348
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 517 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
34
in-school suspensions + 14 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 6.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 9.3 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 40.2%
African American 31.9%
White 18.4%
Two or More 5.0%
Asian 4.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 40.2% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 69.8/100
Simpson diversity index - at 69.8, Swift 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 Swift El.
$11,746
Per student
-18%
vs Texas
Avg $14,348
-33%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 57.0%
State 23.9%
Federal 19.1%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2022-23 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Swift 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 | Similar 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 Swift 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 (~517 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~14:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Swift El's federal record.
- Compare Swift 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 Swift El
How many students attend Swift El?
Swift El has 517 students enrolled. It is a public school in Arlington, TX.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Swift El?
The student-teacher ratio at Swift El is 14:1, which is 5% lower than the Texas average of 14.7:1 and 11% 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 Swift El?
78.1% of students at Swift El are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Texas average of 61.9%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Swift El?
The largest demographic group at Swift El is Hispanic or Latino at 40.2% of enrollment, in Arlington, TX. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 69.8/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Swift El?
Swift El has a Resource Investment Index of 32/100 (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 Swift El rank among schools in Arlington?
By Resource Investment Index, Swift El ranks #51 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 Swift 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, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.