Enrollment
180
Iowa · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Latimer, IA
Cal Elementary School
Federal NCES profile for Cal Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 58/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 190597000203
👥 S:T ratio 48
🌟 Gifted program 70
📋 Attendance 54
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Cal Elementary School earns 58/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Iowa median.
- 58
- Resource Index · Higher
- 12.9:1
- students per teacher
- 45.5%
- free-lunch eligible
- 180
- students enrolled
Cal Elementary School has class sizes near the Iowa median. Computed live against every Iowa school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Cal Comm School District · Iowa
NCES ID 190597000203 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
14.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12.9:1
vs 14.8:1 Iowa avg
-13% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
45.5%
vs 36.4% Iowa avg
+25% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Cal Elementary School compares with Iowa and U.S. medians
What stands out at Cal Elementary School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Cal Elementary School sits near the smaller end of the Iowa 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.
Higher need paired with broader reported resources
Cal Elementary School serves a higher-need student population than most Iowa campuses while its Resource Investment Index still lands in the state's upper tier. That combination is more informative than either figure alone: reported staffing and program capacity are comparatively strong despite a funding context that often carries greater service demands. It does not prove equal outcomes, but it identifies a campus whose federal resource signals are not simply tracking a lower-need intake.
A combined-grade campus has a different support burden
Cal Elementary School serves a combined grade span rather than a conventional elementary, middle, or high-school band. That structure can require the same campus to cover transitions, counseling needs, and programs for students at substantially different developmental stages, so a single staffing ratio deserves more caution than it would at a narrower-grade school. Federal totals show the available people and programs, but not how those resources are divided among grade levels.
Cal Elementary School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Latimer, Iowa, enrolling 180 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 12.9:1 puts it in the smaller third of Iowa schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 45.5% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 180 puts it in the smaller third of Iowa schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,322 scored Iowa schools.
Against 192 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #34.
Its student body is led by White (54%) and Hispanic or Latino (43%) (diversity index 52/100).
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 18.3% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Cal Comm School District operates only this one school, so Cal Elementary School 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 Cal Elementary School compares
Cal Elementary School on the metrics families compare, against Iowa and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Iowa | Iowa avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 12.9:1 | ▼ 13% | 14.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 45.5% | ▲ 25% | 36.4% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 180 | top 80% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
12.9:1
Leaner classes than 68% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
180
Bigger than 17% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
45.5%
free-lunch eligible
- 25% above the Iowa average of 36.4%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
12.9:1
students per teacher
- 13% below state mean
Top 34% in Iowa - lower ratio than 66% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
18.3%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 15-20% range, nearing the "high" absenteeism threshold.
Funding equity
$15,511
per pupil, district-wide
- above Iowa avg of $13,441
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
1
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 54.4%
Hispanic or Latino 42.8%
Two or More 2.2%
Asian 0.6%
Largest group: White at 54.4% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 52.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 52.0, Cal Elementary School is more mixed than the Iowa school average of 33.8.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Cal Comm School District, which includes Cal Elementary School.
$15,511
Per student
+15%
vs Iowa
Avg $13,441
-12%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 45.7%
State 42.6%
Federal 11.7%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2022-23 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Iowa, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~180 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Cal Elementary School's federal record.
- Compare Cal Elementary School against another school. Compare schools
- Cal Comm School District'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 Cal Elementary School
How many students attend Cal Elementary School?
Cal Elementary School has 180 students enrolled. It is a public school in Latimer, IA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cal Elementary School?
The student-teacher ratio at Cal Elementary School is 12.9:1, which is 13% lower than the Iowa average of 14.8:1 and 18% 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 Cal Elementary School?
45.5% of students at Cal Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Iowa average of 36.4%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Cal Elementary School?
The largest demographic group at Cal Elementary School is White at 54.4% of enrollment, in Latimer, IA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 52.0/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Cal Elementary School?
Cal Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 58/100 (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 Cal Comm School District?
None reported; Cal Comm School District operates only Cal Elementary School 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, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.