Enrollment
443
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 063429005402
Central Middle — San Carlos, CA
Federal NCES profile for Central Middle, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 31/100.
👥 Class size 14
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 80
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: San Carlos Elementary · 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)
20.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
21.4:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-1% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
10.5%
vs 55.5% California avg
-81% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Central Middle 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
Central Middle reports 443 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 20.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 21.4:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 1% 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 35% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 10.5% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 81% below the California average and 80% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 738 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 8.1% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding San Carlos Elementary spends $19,114 per pupil district-wide, above the California average of $18,039 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 86.6% from local sources (property taxes), 12.0% from the state, and 1.4% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 31/100 (F), calculated from 4 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 Central Middle 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 | 21.4:1 | ▼ 1% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 10.5% | ▼ 81% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 443 | top 46% | — | — |
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
10.5%
free-lunch eligible
— 81% 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
21.4:1
students per teacher
— 1% below state mean
Top 43% in California — lower ratio than 57% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
8.1%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Below 10% — strong attendance relative to the post-pandemic national landscape.
Funding equity
$19,114
per pupil, district-wide
— above California avg of $18,039
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.6 FTE
Per 738 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
4
in-school suspensions + 7 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.9 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.5 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 443 Top 46% in California — larger than 54% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 20.0
Students per teacher 21.4:1 -1% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 10.5% -81% vs state
NCES ID 063429005402
Student demographics
White 52.4%
Two or More 16.3%
Asian 15.6%
Hispanic or Latino 15.1%
African American 0.5%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.2%
Largest group: White at 52.4% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 0.6
Students per counselor 738:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 8.1%
In-school suspensions 4
Out-of-school suspensions 7
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for San Carlos Elementary, which includes Central Middle.
$19,114
Per student
+6%
vs California
Avg $18,039
-2%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 86.6%
State 12.0%
Federal 1.4%
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
- 451
- Students per teacher
- 20.8:1
- Enrollment
- 411
- Students per teacher
- 19.8:1
- Enrollment
- 388
- Students per teacher
- 20.4:1
- Enrollment
- 322
- Students per teacher
- 18.5:1
- Enrollment
- 320
- Students per teacher
- 17.5:1
Similar middle schools in San Carlos
1 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) 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 Central Middle
How many students attend Central Middle?
Central Middle has 443 students enrolled. It is a middle school in San Carlos, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Central Middle?
The student-teacher ratio at Central Middle is 21.4:1, which is 1% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 35% 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 Central Middle?
10.5% of students at Central Middle are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Central Middle?
The largest demographic group at Central Middle is White at 52.4%. The school serves a diverse student body in San Carlos, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Central Middle?
Central Middle has a Resource Investment Index of 31/100 (F) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.