Enrollment
247
Massachusetts · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Salem, MA
Carlton
Federal NCES profile for Carlton, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 51/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 251038001656
👥 S:T ratio 62
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 75
📋 Attendance 38
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Carlton earns 51/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 85% of Massachusetts schools.
- #1 of 4
- elementary schools in Salem · Resource Index
- 51
- Resource Index · Higher
- 9.5:1
- small classes for Massachusetts
- 247
- students enrolled
Carlton has class sizes smaller than 85% of Massachusetts schools. Computed live against every Massachusetts school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Carlton ranks #1 of 4 elementary schools in Salem, MA.
School address
Teachers (FTE)
26.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
9.5:1
vs 12.3:1 Massachusetts avg
-23% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Carlton compares with Massachusetts and U.S. medians
What stands out at Carlton
Carlton is a mid-sized elementary school in Salem, Massachusetts, enrolling 247 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 9.5:1, Carlton is leaner than roughly 85% of Massachusetts schools and 23% under the state's 12.3:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Enrollment of 247 puts it in the smaller third of Massachusetts schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,831 scored Massachusetts schools.
Its student body is led by White (55%) and Hispanic or Latino (33%) (diversity index 58/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 124 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 24.7% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Among Salem's elementary schools, it stands alongside Witchcraft Heights (455 students): Carlton is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (9.5:1 vs 12:1).
Salem also operates Salem High (952 students) and Collins Middle (611 students) alongside Carlton.
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 Carlton compares
Carlton on the metrics families compare, against Massachusetts and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Massachusetts | Massachusetts avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 9.5:1 | ▼ 23% | 12.3:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 247 | top 81% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
9.5:1
Leaner classes than 91% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
247
Bigger than 25% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
9.5:1
students per teacher
- 23% below state mean
Top 15% in Massachusetts - lower ratio than 85% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
24.7%
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
$25,931
per pupil, district-wide
- above Massachusetts avg of $22,458
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 124 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
5
in-school suspensions + 25 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 2.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 12.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 55.3%
Hispanic or Latino 32.5%
African American 6.1%
Two or More 3.7%
Asian 1.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.4%
Largest group: White at 55.3% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 58.3/100
Simpson diversity index - at 58.3, Carlton is more mixed than the Massachusetts school average of 47.3.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Salem, which includes Carlton.
$25,931
Per student
+15%
vs Massachusetts
Avg $22,458
+56%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 46.5%
State 41.5%
Federal 12.0%
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.
How Carlton Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salem High | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| Collins Middle | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Witchcraft Heights | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Saltonstall School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Bates | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Carlton's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 952
- Students per teacher
- 9.2:1
- Resource Index
- 50/100
- Enrollment
- 611
- Students per teacher
- 12:1
- Resource Index
- 42/100
- Enrollment
- 455
- Students per teacher
- 12:1
- Resource Index
- 45/100
- Enrollment
- 412
- Students per teacher
- 12.9:1
- Resource Index
- 48/100
- Enrollment
- 410
- Students per teacher
- 13.2:1
- Resource Index
- 46/100
Similar elementary schools in Salem
3 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 Massachusetts, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~247 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~9.5:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Carlton's federal record.
- Compare Carlton against another school. Compare schools
- Salem'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 Carlton
How many students attend Carlton?
Carlton has 247 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Salem, MA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Carlton?
The student-teacher ratio at Carlton is 9.5:1, which is 23% lower than the Massachusetts average of 12.3:1 and 39% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Carlton?
The largest demographic group at Carlton is White at 55.3% of enrollment, in Salem, MA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 58.3/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Carlton?
Carlton has a Resource Investment Index of 51/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Carlton rank among elementary schools in Salem?
By Resource Investment Index, Carlton ranks #1 of 4 elementary schools in Salem, MA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Salem on the city page.
Is Carlton a good school?
Carlton earns 51/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 85% of Massachusetts schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Salem?
Besides Carlton, Salem also operates Salem High (952 students), Collins Middle (611 students), and Witchcraft Heights (455 students). See the Salem district page for the complete list.
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 June 2026.