NCES CCD 2024-25 47 schools CA

Best-Resourced Schools in Madera, CA

47 public K-12 schools in Madera from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

47
Schools
24,960
Students
27.2/100
Avg Resource Index
21.6:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Large, fragmented school market

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Madera has more public-school enrollment than 94% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Madera is among the largest city school systems in this directory by enrollment, but its campuses are divided among 8 districts. That combination matters: citywide averages blend separate budgets, staffing policies, attendance boundaries, and program rules. For a family comparing schools here, the district column is as important as the city average; two nearby campuses may answer to different boards and draw on different F-33 funding pools.

The school portfolio is elementary-weighted

24 of Madera's 47 listed schools are elementary campuses. That composition means citywide enrollment and staffing averages are influenced more by early-grade operating patterns than by the city's 5 middle and 8 high-school records. Families comparing later grades should rely on those individual rows rather than the all-school mean.

High measured need meets a thin staffing ratio

Madera's reporting schools show 73.8% free-lunch eligibility across measured enrollment, alongside an average 21.6:1 student-teacher ratio. These are separate constraints: one describes the economic context of enrolled students and the other compares student and teacher headcounts. The 54-point gap between Juvenile Hall (Endeavor/Voyager Secondary) and John J. Pershing Elementary is therefore more useful than the city mean alone. A school with a similar ratio may still report different counselor access, attendance, or gifted-program availability, so open the campus records before drawing conclusions about student support.

City enrollment
Top 6%
School count
Top 4%
Resource Index average
7th percentile
Teacher staffing
10th percentile

Madera school enrollment varies 1009× across entities

Madera school enrollment ranges from 2 students (lowest) to 2,017 students (highest), a spread of 2,015 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data

Madera reports 73.8% free-lunch eligibility

The reported share sits between 62.5% and 75%, above a simple majority but below the highest descriptive band used here. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data

Madera operates 8 school districts — among the most fragmented governance structures in the country

Each school district has independent budgeting, hiring, and service delivery authority. The fragmentation reflects historical patterns of inter-municipal boundary lines that pre-date modern city growth, students in different parts of the same city can attend different districts with different per-pupil spending, calendars, and graduation requirements. Per-region variation is largest in fragmented systems because each school district sets its own budget, contracts, and priorities without higher-level coordination above the regulatory floor.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data

Madera student-teacher ratio is 21.6:1 — high (typically associated with larger urban scale or staffing constraints that have widened the headcount gap)

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

6 of Madera's 47 listed schools are charters

13% of the city's listed public-school campuses are reported as charter schools in NCES CCD. Charter status identifies a different governance arrangement; it does not establish admissions availability, academic quality, or the share of city students enrolled in those campuses. Open each school record to compare enrollment and staffing directly.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data

# School Score
1. Juvenile Hall (Endeavor/Voyager Secondary) 62
2. Ripperdan Community Day 60
3. Lincoln Community Day 56
4. Centennial Independent Study 52
5. Valley Children's Hospital 50
6. Webster Elementary 48
7. Gould Educational Center 45
8. Stone Creek Elementary 42
9. Madera South High 40
10. Pioneer Technical Center 40
11. Liberty High 37
12. Sierra View Elementary 37
13. Sherman Thomas Stem Academy 37
14. Mountain Vista High 36
15. Dixieland Elementary 34
16. La Vina Elementary 34
17. Madera Unified Adult Transition Program 33
18. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle 31
19. Howard Elementary 31
20. Ranchos Middle 31
21. Duane E. Furman Independent Study 31
22. Eastin Arcola Elementary 31
23. Jack G. Desmond Middle 29
24. Madera County Independent Academy 29
25. Madera High 27
26. Sherman Thomas Charter High 25
27. Matilda Torres High 24
28. Sherman Thomas Charter 24
29. Thomas Jefferson Middle 22
30. Hillside Elementary 21
31. Ezequiel Tafoya Alvarado Academy 20
32. George Washington Elementary 12
33. Sierra Vista Elementary 11
34. Nishimoto Elementary 11
35. Cesar Chavez Elementary 11
36. Millview Elementary 11
37. Lincoln Elementary 10
38. Virginia Lee Rose Elementary 10
39. Berenda Elementary 10
40. Parkwood Elementary 10
41. James Monroe Elementary 10
42. Freedom Home 10
43. Independence Continuation High 10
44. John Adams Elementary 9
45. John J. Pershing Elementary 8
46. James Madison Elementary 8
47. Alpha Elementary 8

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Madera

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 Hillside Elementary 67.3/100
  2. 2 Stone Creek Elementary 64.8/100
  3. 3 Centennial Independent Study 63.7/100
  4. 4 Ranchos Middle 61.1/100
  5. 5 Freedom Home 59.6/100

What do families ask about schools in Madera?

Which Madera school has the highest Resource Investment Index?

Juvenile Hall (Endeavor/Voyager Secondary) has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Madera schools in this federal-data comparison at 62/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Madera, CA?

Madera has 47 public schools with a total enrollment of 24,960 students. 6 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 21.6:1.

Other Cities in California

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in California →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.