Enrollment
188
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Santa Barbara, CA
Cold Spring Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Cold Spring Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 56/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 060927000939
👥 S:T ratio 50
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 87
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Cold Spring Elementary earns 56/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 93% of California schools.
- #2 of 20
- elementary schools in Santa Barbara · Resource Index
- 56
- Resource Index · Higher
- 12.5:1
- small classes for California
- 5.2%
- free-lunch eligible
Cold Spring Elementary has class sizes smaller than 93% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Cold Spring Elementary ranks #2 of 20 elementary schools in Santa Barbara, CA.
School address
District: Cold Spring Elementary · California
NCES ID 060927000939 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
15.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12.5:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
-42% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
5.2%
vs 55.5% California avg
-91% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Cold Spring Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians
What stands out at Cold Spring Elementary
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Cold Spring 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.
Lower need and stronger resource signals align
Cold Spring Elementary reports lower free-meal eligibility than most California schools and an above-typical Resource Investment Index. The two measures move together, a pattern consistent with the resource advantages that often accompany a lower-need intake. That association should not be mistaken for a causal verdict about the school; it is a transparent description of how this campus sits on two independent federal-data dimensions.
Attendance is a relative strength
5.3% of Cold Spring Elementary students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 civil-rights collection. On its face, that is a comparatively low historical rate, though this page does not treat it as a current national benchmark or guarantee current-year performance. Here, attendance is a more distinctive signal than the presence or absence of any single specialist role.
Cold Spring Elementary is a lower-poverty, mid-sized elementary school in Santa Barbara, California, enrolling 188 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 12.5:1, Cold Spring Elementary is leaner than roughly 93% of California schools and 42% under the state's 21.5:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Comparatively few students face economic hardship here, 5.2% free-meal eligibility runs 91% below the California average.
Enrollment of 188 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index outscores 96% of the 9,998 California schools with a score on record, a top-tier result on this measure.
Among 65 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need California schools statewide, it ranks #4, a top-tier result once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by White (79%) and Two or More (13%) (diversity index 35/100).
Attendance holds up well here: only 5.3% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.
The surrounding Cold Spring Elementary spends $24,083 per pupil, 46% above the California average, a better-resourced district than most.
Among Santa Barbara's elementary schools, it stands alongside Peabody Charter (780 students): Cold Spring Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (12.5:1 vs 24.4:1).
Cold Spring Elementary operates only this one school, so Cold Spring 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 Cold Spring Elementary compares
Cold Spring 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 | 12.5:1 | ▼ 42% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 5.2% | ▼ 91% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 188 | top 84% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
12.5:1
Leaner classes than 71% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
188
Bigger than 18% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
5.2%
free-lunch eligible
- 91% below the California average of 55.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold, among the lower-need profiles in the state; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
12.5:1
students per teacher
- 42% below state mean
Top 7% in California - lower ratio than 93% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
5.3%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 5-10% range, close to the pre-pandemic national baseline.
Funding equity
$24,083
per pupil, district-wide
- above California avg of $16,509
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 79.3%
Two or More 12.8%
Hispanic or Latino 5.3%
Asian 1.1%
American Indian / Alaska Native 1.1%
African American 0.5%
Largest group: White at 79.3% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 35.2/100
Simpson diversity index - at 35.2, Cold Spring Elementary is less mixed than the California school average of 46.0.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Cold Spring Elementary, which includes Cold Spring Elementary.
$24,083
Per student
+46%
vs California
Avg $16,509
+45%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 84.6%
State 12.1%
Federal 3.3%
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 Santa Barbara
6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.
Peabody Charter
Standard public school
780 students 24.4:1 students per teacher
Washington Elementary
Standard public school
477 students 17:1 students per teacher
Adams Elementary
Standard public school
469 students 17.4:1 students per teacher
Roosevelt Elementary
Standard public school
463 students 19.3:1 students per teacher
Franklin Elementary
Standard public school
424 students 18.4:1 students per teacher
Foothill Elementary
Standard public school
413 students 24.3:1 students per teacher
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 (~188 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Cold Spring Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Cold Spring Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Cold Spring 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 Cold Spring Elementary
How many students attend Cold Spring Elementary?
Cold Spring Elementary has 188 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Santa Barbara, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cold Spring Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Cold Spring Elementary is 12.5:1, which is 42% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 20% 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 Cold Spring Elementary?
5.2% of students at Cold Spring Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Cold Spring Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Cold Spring Elementary is White at 79.3% of enrollment, in Santa Barbara, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Cold Spring Elementary?
Cold Spring Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 56/100 (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).
How does Cold Spring Elementary rank among elementary schools in Santa Barbara?
By Resource Investment Index, Cold Spring Elementary ranks #2 of 20 elementary schools in Santa Barbara, CA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Santa Barbara on the city page.
What other schools are in Cold Spring Elementary?
None reported; Cold Spring Elementary operates only Cold Spring 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.