Enrollment
2,012
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 062308003516
Arroyo Grande High — Arroyo Grande, CA
Federal NCES profile for Arroyo Grande High, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 41/100.
👥 Class size 20
📚 AP courses 100
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 20
📋 Attendance 35
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
District: Lucia Mar Unified · California
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)
99.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
20.1:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-7% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
36.6%
vs 55.5% California avg
-34% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Arroyo Grande High 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
Arroyo Grande High reports 2,012 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 99.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 20.1:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 7% 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 26% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 36.6% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 34% below the California average and 29% below the national baseline. The school offers 20 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 402 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 26.1% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Lucia Mar Unified spends $17,412 per pupil district-wide, below the California average of $18,039 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 58.3% from local sources (property taxes), 30.7% from the state, and 10.9% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 41/100 (D), 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 Arroyo Grande High 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 | 20.1:1 | ▼ 7% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 36.6% | ▼ 34% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 2,012 | top 97% | — | — |
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
36.6%
free-lunch eligible
— 34% below the California average of 55.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
20.1:1
students per teacher
— 7% below state mean
Top 30% in California — lower ratio than 70% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
26.1%
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
$17,412
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
Counselors5.0 FTE
Per 402 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
13
in-school suspensions + 110 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 6.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 5 expulsions.
Overview
Enrollment 2,012 Top 97% in California — larger than 3% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 99.0
Students per teacher 20.1:1 -7% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 36.6% -34% vs state
NCES ID 062308003516
Student demographics
White 48.2%
Hispanic or Latino 42.2%
Two or More 5.7%
Asian 3.0%
African American 0.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%
Largest group: White at 48.2% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 20
Counselors (FTE) 5.0
Students per counselor 402:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 26.1%
In-school suspensions 13
Out-of-school suspensions 110
Expulsions 5
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Lucia Mar Unified, which includes Arroyo Grande High.
$17,412
Per student
-3%
vs California
Avg $18,039
-11%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 58.3%
State 30.7%
Federal 10.9%
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.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 819
- Students per teacher
- 19.4:1
- Enrollment
- 619
- Students per teacher
- 24.2:1
- Enrollment
- 612
- Students per teacher
- 23.1:1
- Enrollment
- 577
- Students per teacher
- 22:1
- Enrollment
- 547
- Students per teacher
- 22.8:1
Similar high schools in Arroyo Grande
1 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.
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 Arroyo Grande High
How many students attend Arroyo Grande High?
Arroyo Grande High has 2,012 students enrolled. It is a high school in Arroyo Grande, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Arroyo Grande High?
The student-teacher ratio at Arroyo Grande High is 20.1:1, which is 7% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 26% 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 Arroyo Grande High?
36.6% of students at Arroyo Grande High are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Arroyo Grande High?
The largest demographic group at Arroyo Grande High is White at 48.2%. The school serves a diverse student body in Arroyo Grande, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Arroyo Grande High?
Arroyo Grande High has a Resource Investment Index of 41/100 (D) 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.