8 public K-12 schools in Palm Springs from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
8 public schools ranked by quality score. NCES CCD 2024-25 data.
The highest-ranked of Palm Springs's 8 public schools is Palm Springs High, scoring 38/100, against a city average of 36.6/100. Computed live across every Palm Springs campus reporting to NCES.
How the Palm Springs Public-School Landscape Breaks Down
Palm Springs, CA enrolls 4,660 students across 8 public schools reporting to the National Center for Education Statistics. Of those, 1 are charter schools, giving families genuine alternatives to the traditional neighbourhood assignment model. The average student-teacher ratio across the city is 19.6:1, and the composite quality score, derived from student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted-program availability, and CRDC attendance data, averages 36.6/100. Schools must report at least five campuses in a city to appear in this listing, which is why very small towns may redirect to the broader county or state view.
The most-resourced campus in Palm Springs on this index is Palm Springs High, at 38/100 on the Resource Investment Index with 1,497 enrolled students. What the index does and doesn't measure; click any school below for its full component breakdown.
Palm Springs spans 1 district, each filing its own NCES F-33 return, per-pupil spending can vary between neighbouring campuses. Sort the table below by enrollment, level, or district; click any school for its full profile.
Palm Springs High accounts for 32.1% of all Palm Springs public-school enrollment
That dominant concentration means Palm Springs-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade level: High. A dominant campus often anchors a city's program landscape and absorbs a disproportionate share of district capital and staffing decisions. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Palm Springs school enrollment varies 499× across entities
Palm Springs school enrollment ranges from 3 students (lowest) to 1,497 students (highest), a spread of 1,494 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing, programme depth, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same city based on enrollment shape, a 200-student magnet runs a different operational model than a 2,000-student comprehensive high school.
Palm Springs has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 94.0% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Eligibility here is a supermajority of the population — well past the 75% concentration-grant threshold that unlocks extra funding on top of the basic Title I formula. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Palm Springs operates only 1 school district — one of the single most consolidated governance structures in the country
Most Palm Springs school districts are a single unified district covering the whole city, a structural feature that simplifies inter-school comparison but concentrates policy authority, and the count here is near the floor observed nationally. Consolidation produces narrower variance because resources pool across a large population, but it can also mask intra-school district inequities — sub-school district differences within a single school district are not visible at this aggregation level. Consolidated systems typically rely more heavily on top-down funding formulas than on local revenue variability.
Palm Springs student-teacher ratio is 19.6:1 — 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.
Palm Springs has higher-than-average charter school authorisation eligibility — 12.5% of the population qualifies for charter-school enrollment options
charter-school enrollment options eligibility is the federal threshold for charter school authorisation funding allocations, established under the state-specific charter law. Areas above 30% eligibility receive concentration grants on top of the basic charter school authorisation formula. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Palm Springs
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.
The highest-ranked school in Palm Springs is Palm Springs High with a quality score of 38/100. There are 8 public schools in Palm Springs with 4,660 total students.
How many schools are in Palm Springs, CA? ▼
Palm Springs has 8 public schools with a total enrollment of 4,660 students. 1 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 19.6:1.
Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. Quality scores based on student-teacher ratio,
counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance. Schools must have 5+ in the city to be listed.
Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Read our methodology, which explains how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
