Enrollment
153
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Blue Lake, CA
Blue Lake Union Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Blue Lake Union Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 49/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 060540000499
👥 S:T ratio 44
🌟 Gifted program 70
📋 Attendance 31
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Blue Lake Union Elementary earns 49/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 91% of California schools.
- 49
- Resource Index · Higher
- 13.9:1
- small classes for California
- 58.7%
- free-lunch eligible
- 153
- students enrolled
Blue Lake Union Elementary has class sizes smaller than 91% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Blue Lake Union Elementary · California
NCES ID 060540000499 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
11.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
13.9:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
-35% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
58.7%
vs 55.5% California avg
+6% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Blue Lake Union Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians
What stands out at Blue Lake Union Elementary
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Blue Lake Union Elementary sits near the smaller end of the California enrollment distribution while also reporting a lower student-teacher ratio than most state schools. That pairing is consistent with a compact, teacher-dense setting, though small scale can limit the number of specialized courses or support roles a campus can sustain. The program and staffing sections below show whether the lean ratio extends beyond classroom teachers into broader student services.
Resource indicators are the standout signal
Blue Lake Union Elementary's economic-need measure is not at a state extreme, while its Resource Investment Index is. The campus outranks most California schools on the combined reported-resource measure, so the differentiator comes from staffing, counselor access, gifted programming, or attendance rather than from an unusually low-need population alone. The component breakdown identifies which inputs actually produce that placement.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Blue Lake Union Elementary's 27.5% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Blue Lake Union Elementary is a higher-need, small elementary school in Blue Lake, California, enrolling 153 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 13.9:1, Blue Lake Union Elementary is leaner than roughly 91% of California schools and 35% under the state's 21.5:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 58.7% lands close to the California typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
Enrollment of 153 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index outscores 91% of the 9,998 California schools with a score on record, a top-tier result on this measure.
Against 388 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #72.
Its student body is led by White (60%) and Two or More (17%) (diversity index 58/100).
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 27.5% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 16.6% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Among Blue Lake's elementary schools, it stands alongside Green Point Elementary (3 students): Blue Lake Union Elementary is larger than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (13.9:1 vs 3:1).
Blue Lake Union Elementary operates only this one school, so Blue Lake Union Elementary has no district-mates to compare against locally.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Blue Lake Union Elementary compares
Blue Lake Union Elementary on the metrics families compare, against California and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs California | California avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 13.9:1 | ▼ 35% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 58.7% | ▲ 6% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 153 | top 86% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
13.9:1
Leaner classes than 58% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
153
Bigger than 15% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
58.7%
free-lunch eligible
- 6% 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
13.9:1
students per teacher
- 35% below state mean
Top 9% in California - lower ratio than 91% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
27.5%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$16,884
per pupil, district-wide
- above California avg of $16,509
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
3
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 2.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 60.1%
Two or More 17.0%
Hispanic or Latino 15.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 5.2%
Asian 1.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.7%
Largest group: White at 60.1% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 58.2/100
Simpson diversity index - at 58.2, Blue Lake Union Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Blue Lake Union Elementary, which includes Blue Lake Union Elementary.
$16,884
Per student
+2%
vs California
Avg $16,509
+2%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 41.7%
State 41.7%
Federal 16.6%
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 elementary schools in Blue Lake
1 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.
Similar elementary schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of California, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~153 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Blue Lake Union Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Blue Lake Union Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Blue Lake Union Elementary's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Blue Lake Union Elementary
How many students attend Blue Lake Union Elementary?
Blue Lake Union Elementary has 153 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Blue Lake, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Blue Lake Union Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Blue Lake Union Elementary is 13.9:1, which is 35% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 11% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Blue Lake Union Elementary?
58.7% of students at Blue Lake Union Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Blue Lake Union Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Blue Lake Union Elementary is White at 60.1% of enrollment, in Blue Lake, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 58.2/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Blue Lake Union Elementary?
Blue Lake Union Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 49/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Blue Lake Union Elementary?
None reported; Blue Lake Union Elementary operates only Blue Lake Union Elementary as a public school district in NCES's records.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026.