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Santa Cruz, California - 5 schools
1,724
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
-
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Santa Cruz City Elementary operates 5 public schools serving 1,724 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 elementary 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 Santa Cruz County.
a 385.4:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 25.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 47.0% White, 39.6% Hispanic or Latino, 2.8% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is De Laveaga Elementary, with a diversity index of 60.9/100.
De Laveaga Elementary accounts for 27.4% of all Santa Cruz City Elementary student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Santa Cruz City Elementary-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. 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.
Santa Cruz City Elementary school enrollment varies 4.2× across entities
Santa Cruz City Elementary school enrollment ranges from 114 students (lowest) to 481 students (highest), a spread of 367 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Santa Cruz City Elementary student-counselor ratio is 385:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Santa Cruz City Elementary chronic absenteeism rate is 25.1% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
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 Variation between sub-units within Santa Cruz City Elementary is typically wider than the Santa Cruz City Elementary-aggregate figure suggests.
How many schools are in Santa Cruz City Elementary?
Santa Cruz City Elementary has 5 schools, including 5 elementary. Total enrollment is 1,724 students.
What is the demographic composition of Santa Cruz City Elementary?
Santa Cruz City Elementary students are 47.0% White, 39.6% Hispanic or Latino, 2.8% Asian, 0.8% African American, averaged across 5 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.