Vela Middle School
Public middle school in Brownsville, Texas · Brownsville ISD · Grades 6–8
Vela Middle School serves 658 students in grades 6–8 in Brownsville (Cameron County). It is one of 48 schools in Brownsville ISD. By enrollment it is the 829th largest of 1,719 public middle schools in Texas (median 639 students). With 14.2 students per full-time teacher, it has about the same as the typical Texas middle school (14.4).
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25. Rank and medians compare all 1,719 Texas middle schools with enrollment listed on this site.
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25. Students per teacher = students ÷ 46.27 full-time-equivalent teachers.
School facts
| School type | Regular School |
| Level | Middle |
| Grades | 6–8 |
| District | Brownsville ISD |
| County | Cameron County |
| Area type | City, midsize |
| School meals | Free meals for every student (Community Eligibility Provision) |
| NCES school ID | 481168000426 |
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25 directory and school characteristics; area type from NCES EDGE locale codes.
Compared with the district and Texas
| This school | Brownsville ISD | Texas middle schools (median) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Students | 658 | 36,140 | 639 |
| Students per teacher | 14.2 | 15 | 14.4 |
| Free or reduced-price lunch eligible | 82.8% | 89.3% | 65.6% |
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25. District figures add up its schools. 46% of Texas middle schools have fewer students per teacher than this school (share of schools with a lower ratio). State test results aren't published here yet.
Vela Middle School in context
Size
Vela Middle School is the 7th largest of Brownsville ISD's 10 middle schools; its 658 students are 1.8% of district enrollment. The 8 nearest middle schools are a median 3.5 miles away and have a median of 854 students, so Vela Middle School is smaller than most of them.
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 6 with 235 students, and its smallest is grade 7 with 207, against an average of 219 per grade. Its first and last grades are close in size: 235 in grade 6 and 216 in grade 8.
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25 membership by grade.
Students
Hispanic students are the largest group, at 98.3% of enrollment, about the same share as across Brownsville ISD (98.5%). Students from 4 of the 7 race and ethnicity groups NCES reports are enrolled.
82.8% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, against 89.3% across Brownsville ISD and a median of 65.6% for Texas middle 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
Vela Middle School has 46.27 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 14.2 students per teacher. At the median Texas middle school ratio of 14.4, a school with 658 students would have about 45.7 teachers, so Vela Middle School has about as many as that.
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25. Expected teachers = this school's students ÷ the median students per teacher of Texas middle schools (14.4).
Location
NCES classifies its location as city, midsize, which means it is inside a principal city of 100,000 to 250,000 people. The nearest other middle school is Resaca Middle School, 3.2 miles away in Los Fresnos CISD. There are 8 middle schools within 5 miles and 12 within 10 miles.
Source: NCES EDGE school locations and locale codes, 2024-25. Distances are straight lines.
Students by race and ethnicity
| Hispanic | 98.3% |
| Asian | 1.2% |
| Black | 0.3% |
| White | 0.2% |
49.2% of students are girls and 50.8% are boys.
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25 membership.
Students by grade
| Grade 6 | 235 |
| Grade 7 | 207 |
| Grade 8 | 216 |
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25 membership.
Location and contact
4905 Paredes Line Rd, Brownsville, TX 78521
Phone: (956)548-7770
Website: bisd.us
Locations: NCES EDGE. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Red: Vela Middle School. Blue: the nearest middle schools.
Nearby middle schools
| School | District | Distance | Students | Per teacher | Free/reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resaca Middle School | Los Fresnos CISD | 3.2 mi | 870 | 17.1 | 71% |
| Stell Middle School | Brownsville ISD | 3.2 mi | 733 | 13.2 | 91.7% |
| Manzano Middle School | Brownsville ISD | 3.5 mi | 837 | 14 | 81.2% |
| Stillman Middle School | Brownsville ISD | 3.5 mi | 964 | 14.5 | 67.7% |
| Oliveira Middle School | Brownsville ISD | 3.5 mi | 699 | 12 | 94.8% |
| Garcia Middle School | Brownsville ISD | 4.0 mi | 870 | 14.8 | 87.7% |
| Perkins Middle School | Brownsville ISD | 4.1 mi | 480 | 12.1 | 98.3% |
| Faulk Middle School | Brownsville ISD | 4.9 mi | 885 | 14.4 | 96.3% |
Source: NCES CCD 2024-25. Distance in a straight line between NCES EDGE locations.