Enrollment
845
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Other / mixed grade configuration NCES 069102311839 Charter school
Forest Charter — Nevada City, CA
Federal NCES profile for Forest Charter, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 32/100.
👥 Class size 16
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 83
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: Nevada County Office of Education · 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)
37.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
20.9:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-3% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
32.8%
vs 55.5% California avg
-41% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Forest 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
Forest Charter reports 845 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 37.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 20.9:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 3% 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 31% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 32.8% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 41% below the California average and 37% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 805 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 7.0% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Nevada County Office of Education spends $39,763 per pupil district-wide, above the California average of $18,039 and above the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 32.4% from local sources (property taxes), 57.2% from the state, and 10.5% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 32/100 (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 Forest 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 | 20.9:1 | ▼ 3% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 32.8% | ▼ 41% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 845 | 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
32.8%
free-lunch eligible
— 41% 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
20.9:1
students per teacher
— 3% below state mean
Top 38% in California — lower ratio than 62% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
7.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Below 10% — strong attendance relative to the post-pandemic national landscape.
Funding equity
$39,763
per pupil, district-wide
— above California avg of $18,039
Above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.1 FTE
Per 805 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 845 Top 84% in California — larger than 16% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 37.0
Students per teacher 20.9:1 -3% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 32.8% -41% vs state
NCES ID 069102311839
Student demographics
White 78.4%
Hispanic or Latino 12.4%
Two or More 6.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 1.2%
Asian 0.6%
African American 0.5%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.4%
Largest group: White at 78.4% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 3
Counselors (FTE) 1.1
Students per counselor 805:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 7.0%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 1
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Nevada County Office of Education, which includes Forest Charter.
$39,763
Per student
+120%
vs California
Avg $18,039
+104%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 32.4%
State 57.2%
Federal 10.5%
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
- 208
- Students per teacher
- 22.4:1
- Enrollment
- 91
- Students per teacher
- 17.4:1
- Enrollment
- 51
- Students per teacher
- 7.3:1
- Enrollment
- 5
- Students per teacher
- —
Similar other schools in Nevada City
1 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) 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 Forest Charter
How many students attend Forest Charter?
Forest Charter has 845 students enrolled. It is a other school in Nevada City, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Forest Charter?
The student-teacher ratio at Forest Charter is 20.9:1, which is 3% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 31% 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 Forest Charter?
32.8% of students at Forest Charter are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Forest Charter?
The largest demographic group at Forest Charter is White at 78.4%. The school serves a diverse student body in Nevada City, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Forest Charter?
Forest Charter has a Resource Investment Index of 32/100 (F) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.