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Richmond, California - 1 schools
An equity score of 75/100 ranks Making Waves Academy District #161 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $21,268 per pupil, Making Waves Academy District ranks #190 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,124
Total Enrollment
1
Schools
$21,268
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Making Waves Academy District operates 1 public schools serving 1,124 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Contra Costa County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $21,268 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 48.6% local, 40.7% state, and 10.6% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 75/100, ranked #161 of 1517 in California against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 1 schools offering Advanced Placement (7 AP courses district-wide), and 59.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 87.6% Hispanic or Latino, 6.8% African American, 3.9% Asian across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Making Waves Academy, enrolling 1,078 students (100% of the district's total enrollment).
Making Waves Academy accounts for 95.9% of all Making Waves Academy District student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Making Waves Academy District a distant remainder — means Making Waves Academy District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Making Waves Academy District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 66.3% 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 approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. 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.
Making Waves Academy District chronic absenteeism rate is 59.5% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Values this far above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Comparisons are relative to Making Waves Academy District's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in California
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Making Waves Academy District?
Making Waves Academy District has 1 school, including 1 combined. Total enrollment is 1,124 students.
How much does Making Waves Academy District spend per student?
Making Waves Academy District spends $21,268 per student. The district has an equity score of 75/100, ranking #161 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Making Waves Academy District?
Making Waves Academy District students are 87.6% Hispanic or Latino, 6.8% African American, 3.9% Asian, 1.4% White, averaged across 1 school. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Making Waves Academy District?
Making Waves Academy District has an equity score of 75/100, ranking #161 out of 1517 districts in California.