Enrollment
706
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Elementary school (grades K-5) NCES 061470010222
Discovery Elementary — Bakersfield, CA
Federal NCES profile for Discovery Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 26/100.
👥 Class size 14
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 61
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: Fruitvale 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)
34.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
21.4:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-1% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
48.2%
vs 55.5% California avg
-13% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Discovery Elementary 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
Discovery Elementary reports 706 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 34.0 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: 48.2% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 13% below the California average and 7% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 1177 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 15.6% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Fruitvale Elementary spends $16,280 per pupil district-wide, below the California average of $18,039 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 24.6% from local sources (property taxes), 64.5% from the state, and 10.9% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 26/100 (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 Discovery Elementary 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 | 48.2% | ▼ 13% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 706 | top 77% | — | — |
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
48.2%
free-lunch eligible
— 13% below the California average of 55.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
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
15.6%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Between 10–20% — above the pre-pandemic baseline of ~15% nationally but within the current U.S. range.
Funding equity
$16,280
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
Counselors0.6 FTE
Per 1177 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 2 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.3 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 706 Top 77% in California — larger than 23% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 34.0
Students per teacher 21.4:1 -1% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 48.2% -13% vs state
NCES ID 061470010222
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 50.6%
White 37.3%
Asian 6.2%
Two or More 3.4%
African American 2.1%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 50.6% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 0.6
Students per counselor 1177:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 15.6%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 2
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Fruitvale Elementary, which includes Discovery Elementary.
$16,280
Per student
-10%
vs California
Avg $18,039
-16%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 24.6%
State 64.5%
Federal 10.9%
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
- 724
- Students per teacher
- 22.3:1
- Enrollment
- 693
- Students per teacher
- 18.6:1
- Enrollment
- 601
- Students per teacher
- 19.6:1
- Enrollment
- 345
- Students per teacher
- 20.8:1
Similar elementary schools in Bakersfield
6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.
Dolores S. Whitley Tk-8
Standard public school
1,151 students 21.9:1 students per teacher
Veterans Elementary
Standard public school
1,002 students 23.8:1 students per teacher
Douglas J. Miller Elementary
Standard public school
994 students 29.4:1 students per teacher
Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary
Standard public school
960 students 23.3:1 students per teacher
Berkshire Elementary
Standard public school
932 students 28.1:1 students per teacher
Patriot Elementary
Standard public school
931 students 22.7:1 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 Discovery Elementary
How many students attend Discovery Elementary?
Discovery Elementary has 706 students enrolled. It is a elementary school in Bakersfield, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Discovery Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Discovery Elementary 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 Discovery Elementary?
48.2% of students at Discovery Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Discovery Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Discovery Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 50.6%. The school serves a diverse student body in Bakersfield, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Discovery Elementary?
Discovery Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 26/100 (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.