Enrollment
546
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 060221911640 Charter school
Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy — Los Angeles, CA
Federal NCES profile for Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 25/100.
👥 Class size 18
📚 AP courses 30
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 45
📋 Attendance 0
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
28.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
20.4:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-6% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
89.2%
vs 55.5% California avg
+61% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy compares with California and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy reports 546 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 28.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 20.4:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 6% below the California state mean of 21.6:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 28% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 89.2% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 61% above the California average and 72% above the national baseline. The school offers 6 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 273 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 45.8% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy District spends $17,266 per pupil district-wide, below the California average of $18,039 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 24.1% from local sources (property taxes), 64.4% from the state, and 11.5% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 25/100 (F), calculated from 5 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against California state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs California | California avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 20.4:1 | ▼ 6% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 89.2% | ▲ 61% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 546 | top 61% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
89.2%
free-lunch eligible
— 61% above the California average of 55.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
20.4:1
students per teacher
— 6% below state mean
Top 33% in California — lower ratio than 67% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
45.8%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$17,266
per pupil, district-wide
— below California avg of $18,039
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 273 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 5 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.9 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 2 expulsions.
Overview
Enrollment 546 Top 61% in California — larger than 39% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 28.0
Students per teacher 20.4:1 -6% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 89.2% +61% vs state
NCES ID 060221911640
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 86.3%
African American 10.1%
Two or More 2.7%
White 0.5%
Asian 0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.2%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 86.3% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 6
Counselors (FTE) 2.0
Students per counselor 273:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 45.8%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 5
Expulsions 2
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy District, which includes Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy.
$17,266
Per student
-4%
vs California
Avg $18,039
-11%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 24.1%
State 64.4%
Federal 11.5%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar high schools in Los Angeles
6 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.
Venice Senior High
Standard public school
2,293 students 22.4:1 students per teacher
James a. Garfield Senior High
Standard public school
2,237 students 17.6:1 students per teacher
Alexander Hamilton Senior High
Standard public school
2,055 students 18.1:1 students per teacher
John C. Fremont Senior High
Standard public school
1,889 students 19.7:1 students per teacher
John Marshall Senior High
Standard public school
1,842 students 20.7:1 students per teacher
Theodore Roosevelt Senior High
Standard public school
1,678 students 17:1 students per teacher
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy
How many students attend Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy?
Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy has 546 students enrolled. It is a high school in Los Angeles, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy?
The student-teacher ratio at Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy is 20.4:1, which is 6% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 28% higher than the national average of 15.9:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy?
89.2% of students at Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy?
The largest demographic group at Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy is Hispanic or Latino at 86.3%. The school serves a diverse student body in Los Angeles, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy?
Animo Watts College Preparatory Academy has a Resource Investment Index of 25/100 (F) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.