Secondary Alternative Center
Public high school in Harlingen, Texas · Harlingen CISD · Grades 6–12
Secondary Alternative Center serves 59 students in grades 6–12 in Harlingen (Cameron County). It is one of 28 schools in Harlingen CISD. By enrollment it is the 1724th largest of 1,920 public high schools in Texas (median 457 students). With 11.3 students per full-time teacher, it has fewer students per teacher than the typical Texas high school (14).
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25. Rank and medians compare all 1,920 Texas high schools with enrollment listed on this site.
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25. Students per teacher = students ÷ 5.23 full-time-equivalent teachers.
School facts
| School type | Alternative School |
| Level | High |
| Grades | 6–12 |
| District | Harlingen CISD |
| County | Cameron County |
| Area type | City, small |
| School meals | Free meals for every student (Community Eligibility Provision) |
| NCES school ID | 482253006940 |
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25 directory and school characteristics; area type from NCES EDGE locale codes.
Compared with the district and Texas
| This school | Harlingen CISD | Texas high schools (median) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Students | 59 | 16,471 | 457 |
| Students per teacher | 11.3 | 14.3 | 14 |
| Free or reduced-price lunch eligible | 91.5% | 76.7% | 63.8% |
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25. District figures add up its schools. 29% of Texas high schools have fewer students per teacher than this school (share of schools with a lower ratio). State test results aren't published here yet.
Secondary Alternative Center in context
Size
Secondary Alternative Center is the smallest of Harlingen CISD's 5 high schools; its 59 students are 0.4% of district enrollment. Its 8 closest high schools sit a median 1.8 miles away with a median enrollment of 567; Secondary Alternative Center is smaller than most of them.
NCES lists it as an alternative school: one that serves students whose needs a regular school may not meet, or that offers a non-traditional program alongside regular schools.
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25 enrollment and school type. Share of district students = this school's students ÷ the district's students. Nearest schools by straight-line distance between NCES EDGE locations.
Grades
Its largest grade is grade 10 with 15 students, and its smallest is grade 6 with 1, against an average of 8 per grade. This year grade 12 has 100% more students than grade 6 (2 against 1). Each grade is a different group of students, so the gap is not a dropout or growth rate.
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25 membership by grade.
Students
The largest group is Hispanic students: 94.9% here and 94.6% across Harlingen CISD.
91.5% of its students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, against 76.7% across Harlingen CISD and a median of 63.8% for Texas high schools. Under the Community Eligibility Provision, every student can eat breakfast and lunch at no charge, and families fill out no meal application.
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25 membership and school lunch program data. District shares weight each school by its enrollment.
Teachers
With 5.23 full-time-equivalent teachers for 59 students, Secondary Alternative Center has 11.3 students per teacher. At the median Texas high school ratio of 14, a school with 59 students would have about 4.2 teachers, so Secondary Alternative Center has 1 more.
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25. Expected teachers = this school's students ÷ the median students per teacher of Texas high schools (14).
Location
Secondary Alternative Center is inside a principal city of fewer than 100,000 people, which NCES calls city, small. The nearest other high school is Harlingen Collegiate High School, 0.9 miles away in the same district. Within 10 miles there are 13 other high schools, 11 of them within 5 miles.
Source: NCES EDGE school locations and locale codes, 2024-25. Distances are straight lines.
Students by race and ethnicity
| Hispanic | 94.9% |
| White | 5.1% |
39% of students are girls and 61% are boys.
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25 membership.
Students by grade
| Grade 6 | 1 |
| Grade 7 | 10 |
| Grade 8 | 13 |
| Grade 9 | 12 |
| Grade 10 | 15 |
| Grade 11 | 6 |
| Grade 12 | 2 |
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25 membership.
Location and contact
1310 Sam Houston, Harlingen, TX 78550
Phone: (956)427-3210
Website: hcisd.org
Locations: NCES EDGE. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Red: Secondary Alternative Center. Blue: the nearest high schools.
Nearby high schools
| School | District | Distance | Students | Per teacher | Free/reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harlingen Collegiate High School | Harlingen CISD | 0.9 mi | 353 | 15.5 | 54.7% |
| Amador R Rodriguez Juvenile Boot Camp | San Benito CISD | 1.4 mi | 15 | 3.1 | 73.3% |
| Hester Juvenile Detent | San Benito CISD | 1.4 mi | 40 | 11.6 | 67.5% |
| IDEA College Preparatory San Benito | IDEA Public Schools | 1.6 mi | 780 | 16.6 | 82.4% |
| Triumph Public High Schools-San Benito | Triumph Public High Schools-Rio Grande Valley | 2.1 mi | 108 | 16.8 | – |
| Harlingen High School | Harlingen CISD | 2.4 mi | 2,433 | 14.5 | 77.8% |
| Harlingen H S - South | Harlingen CISD | 2.6 mi | 2,019 | 14.1 | 70.9% |
| San Benito High School | San Benito CISD | 2.7 mi | 2,057 | 15 | 81.1% |
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25. Distance in a straight line between NCES EDGE locations.