Enrollment
795
Arizona · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 040378003381
Cooley Middle School — Gilbert, AZ
Federal NCES profile for Cooley Middle School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 31/100.
👥 Class size 32
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 21
📋 Attendance 0
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: Higley Unified School District (4248) · Arizona
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)
51.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
17.1:1
vs 17.7:1 Arizona avg
-3% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
17.0%
vs 48.3% Arizona avg
-65% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Cooley Middle School compares with Arizona 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
Cooley Middle School reports 795 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 51.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 17.1:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 3% below the Arizona state mean of 17.7:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 8% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 17.0% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 65% below the Arizona average and 67% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 398 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 54.8% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Higley Unified School District (4248) spends $10,123 per pupil district-wide, below the Arizona average of $15,070 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 40.1% from local sources (property taxes), 48.7% from the state, and 11.2% 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 Cooley Middle School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Arizona state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Arizona | Arizona avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 17.1:1 | ▼ 3% | 17.7:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 17.0% | ▼ 65% | 48.3% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 795 | top 84% | — | — |
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
17.0%
free-lunch eligible
— 65% below the Arizona average of 48.3%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
17.1:1
students per teacher
— 3% below state mean
Top 48% in Arizona — lower ratio than 52% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
54.8%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$10,123
per pupil, district-wide
— below Arizona avg of $15,070
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 398 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 91 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 11.4 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 795 Top 84% in Arizona — larger than 16% of 2,186 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 51.0
Students per teacher 17.1:1 -3% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 17.0% -65% vs state
NCES ID 040378003381
Student demographics
White 52.6%
Hispanic or Latino 26.4%
African American 7.7%
Two or More 7.4%
Asian 4.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 1.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.6%
Largest group: White at 52.6% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 2.0
Students per counselor 398:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 54.8%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 91
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Higley Unified School District (4248), which includes Cooley Middle School.
$10,123
Per student
-33%
vs Arizona
Avg $15,070
-48%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 40.1%
State 48.7%
Federal 11.2%
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
- 2,150
- Students per teacher
- 21.6:1
- Enrollment
- 2,005
- Students per teacher
- 21:1
- Enrollment
- 1,094
- Students per teacher
- 19:1
- Enrollment
- 854
- Students per teacher
- 18.6:1
- Enrollment
- 770
- Students per teacher
- 18.5:1
Similar middle schools in Gilbert
3 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 Cooley Middle School
How many students attend Cooley Middle School?
Cooley Middle School has 795 students enrolled. It is a middle school in GILBERT, AZ.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cooley Middle School?
The student-teacher ratio at Cooley Middle School is 17.1:1, which is 3% lower than the Arizona average of 17.7:1 and 8% 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 Cooley Middle School?
17.0% of students at Cooley Middle School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Arizona average of 48.3%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Cooley Middle School?
The largest demographic group at Cooley Middle School is White at 52.6%. The school serves a diverse student body in GILBERT, AZ.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Cooley Middle School?
Cooley Middle School 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.