NCES CCD 2024-25 26 schools CA

Best-Resourced Schools in Santa Cruz, CA

Compiled from official source data by .

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

PlainSchools home → About this data
26
Schools
8,991
Students
30/100
Avg Resource Index
20.2:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Lean reported-resource profile

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Santa Cruz has more public-school enrollment than 77% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Santa Cruz's average Resource Investment Index falls in the lower portion of the 4,487-city comparison set. The index is a resource snapshot, not an academic grade: it reflects the federal staffing, counselor, gifted-program, and attendance fields available for local campuses. The most useful next step is to open the individual schools below and identify which component is pulling each score down, because the same city average can hide very different campus-level constraints.

The school portfolio is elementary-weighted

14 of Santa Cruz's 26 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 3 middle and 3 high-school records. Families comparing later grades should rely on those individual rows rather than the all-school mean.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 45-point gap between Santa Cruz County Court and Ark Independent Studies shows the range hidden by Santa Cruz's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.

City enrollment
Top 23%
School count
Top 10%
Resource Index average
12th percentile
Teacher staffing
15th percentile

Santa Cruz school enrollment varies 55× across entities

Santa Cruz school enrollment ranges from 20 students (lowest) to 1,093 students (highest), a spread of 1,073 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme heterogeneity inside a single city, with small specialty programs listed alongside large comprehensive campuses. 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

Santa Cruz operates 9 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

Santa Cruz student-teacher ratio is 20.2:1 — 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

# School Score
1. Santa Cruz County Court 55
2. Pacific Collegiate Charter 49
3. Ocean Alternative Education Center 45
4. Costanoa Continuation High 38
5. Alternative Family Education 37
6. Branciforte Middle 35
7. Santa Cruz City Elementary Alternative Education-Monarch 35
8. Mission Hill Middle 33
9. Santa Cruz County Special Education 33
10. Bonny Doon Elementary 33
11. Green Acres Elementary 32
12. Santa Cruz High 30
13. Harbor High 30
14. Shoreline Middle 30
15. Tierra Pacifica Charter 28
16. Happy Valley Elementary 27
17. Westlake Elementary 25
18. Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary 25
19. De Laveaga Elementary 23
20. Bay View Elementary 23
21. Del Mar Elementary 22
22. Brook Knoll Elementary 21
23. Live Oak Elementary 21
24. Gault Elementary 21
25. Santa Cruz County Community 20
26. Ark Independent Studies 10

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Santa Cruz

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 Santa Cruz County Special Education 64.1/100
  2. 2 Alternative Family Education 63.7/100
  3. 3 De Laveaga Elementary 60.9/100
  4. 4 Santa Cruz City Elementary Alternative Education-Monarch 60.8/100
  5. 5 Mission Hill Middle 60.7/100

What do families ask about schools in Santa Cruz?

Which Santa Cruz school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Santa Cruz County Court has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Santa Cruz schools in this federal-data comparison at 55/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Santa Cruz, CA? ▼

Santa Cruz has 26 public schools with a total enrollment of 8,991 students. 2 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 20.2:1.

Other Cities in California

Los Angeles
574 schools
San Diego
284 schools
San Jose
234 schools
Sacramento
197 schools
Fresno
180 schools
Bakersfield
146 schools

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.