Enrollment
440
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Elementary school (grades K-5) NCES 060215503982 Charter school
Creative Arts Charter — San Francisco, CA
Federal NCES profile for Creative Arts Charter, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 28/100.
👥 Class size 26
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 28
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: Creative Arts Charter District · 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)
24.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
18.4:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-15% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
17.5%
vs 55.5% California avg
-68% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Creative Arts Charter 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
Creative Arts Charter reports 440 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 24.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 18.4:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 15% 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 16% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 17.5% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 68% below the California average and 66% below the national baseline. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 28.9% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Creative Arts Charter District spends $12,549 per pupil district-wide, below the California average of $18,039 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 60.2% from local sources (property taxes), 37.1% from the state, and 2.7% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 28/100 (F), calculated from 3 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 Creative Arts Charter 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 | 18.4:1 | ▼ 15% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 17.5% | ▼ 68% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 440 | 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
17.5%
free-lunch eligible
— 68% 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
18.4:1
students per teacher
— 15% below state mean
Top 19% in California — lower ratio than 81% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
28.9%
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
$12,549
per pupil, district-wide
— below California avg of $18,039
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
14
in-school suspensions + 11 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 3.2 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 5.7 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 440 Top 46% in California — larger than 54% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 24.0
Students per teacher 18.4:1 -15% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 17.5% -68% vs state
NCES ID 060215503982
Student demographics
White 40.5%
Hispanic or Latino 27.3%
Two or More 15.7%
African American 12.0%
Asian 4.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.2%
Largest group: White at 40.5% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 0.0
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 28.9%
In-school suspensions 14
Out-of-school suspensions 11
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Creative Arts Charter District, which includes Creative Arts Charter.
$12,549
Per student
-30%
vs California
Avg $18,039
-36%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 60.2%
State 37.1%
Federal 2.7%
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 San Francisco
6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.
Lilienthal (Claire) Elementary
Standard public school
673 students 23.1:1 students per teacher
Lau (Gordon J.) Elementary
Standard public school
653 students 23:1 students per teacher
Lawton Alternative
Standard public school
600 students 20.6:1 students per teacher
Yu (Alice Fong) Elementary
Standard public school
594 students 29.3:1 students per teacher
West Portal Elementary
Standard public school
588 students 26.5:1 students per teacher
Buena Vista/ Horace Mann K-8
Standard public school
586 students 19.3:1 students per teacher
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 Creative Arts Charter
How many students attend Creative Arts Charter?
Creative Arts Charter has 440 students enrolled. It is a elementary school in San Francisco, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Creative Arts Charter?
The student-teacher ratio at Creative Arts Charter is 18.4:1, which is 15% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 16% 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 Creative Arts Charter?
17.5% of students at Creative Arts Charter are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Creative Arts Charter?
The largest demographic group at Creative Arts Charter is White at 40.5%. The school serves a diverse student body in San Francisco, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Creative Arts Charter?
Creative Arts Charter has a Resource Investment Index of 28/100 (F) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.