Enrollment
266
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Joshua Tree, CA
Friendly Hills Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Friendly Hills Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 43/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 062586009164
👥 S:T ratio 3
🌟 Gifted program 70
📋 Attendance 55
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Friendly Hills Elementary earns 43/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 73% of California schools.
- 43
- Resource Index · Typical
- 24.2:1
- large classes for California
- 51.3%
- free-lunch eligible
- 266
- students enrolled
Friendly Hills Elementary has class sizes larger than 73% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Morongo Unified · California
NCES ID 062586009164 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
11.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
24.2:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
+13% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
51.3%
vs 55.5% California avg
-8% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Friendly Hills Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians
What stands out at Friendly Hills Elementary
Friendly Hills Elementary is a higher-need, mid-sized elementary school in Joshua Tree, California, enrolling 266 students.
Class loads run somewhat heavier than typical: 24.2:1 puts it in the larger third of California schools by student-teacher ratio.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 51.3% lands close to the California typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
Enrollment of 266 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 9,998 scored California schools.
Against 738 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #94.
Its student body is led by White (52%) and Hispanic or Latino (41%) (diversity index 56/100).
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 18.0% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Its district draws 15.6% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Among Joshua Tree's elementary schools, it stands alongside Joshua Tree Elementary (250 students): Friendly Hills Elementary is larger than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (24.2:1 vs 20.8:1).
Morongo Unified also operates Yucca Valley High (1,168 students) and Twentynine Palms High (719 students) alongside Friendly Hills Elementary.
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 Friendly Hills Elementary compares
Friendly Hills 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 | 24.2:1 | ▲ 13% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 51.3% | ▼ 8% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 266 | top 77% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
24.2:1
Leaner classes than 6% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
266
Bigger than 28% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
51.3%
free-lunch eligible
- 8% 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
24.2:1
students per teacher
- 13% above state mean
Top 73% in California - lower ratio than 27% of state schools
Well above 20:1, one of the more stretched staffing loads nationally relative to enrollment.
Engagement
18.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 15-20% range, nearing the "high" absenteeism threshold.
Funding equity
$15,753
per pupil, district-wide
- below California avg of $16,509
Somewhat 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
1
in-school suspensions + 11 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.4 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 4.5 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 51.9%
Hispanic or Latino 40.6%
Two or More 3.8%
African American 1.9%
Asian 0.8%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.4%
Largest group: White at 51.9% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 56.4/100
Simpson diversity index - at 56.4, Friendly Hills Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Morongo Unified, which includes Friendly Hills Elementary.
$15,753
Per student
-5%
vs California
Avg $16,509
-5%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 11.7%
State 72.7%
Federal 15.6%
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.
How Friendly Hills Elementary Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yucca Valley High | Larger | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| Twentynine Palms High | Larger | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| La Contenta Middle | Larger | Higher economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| Onaga Elementary | Larger | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Twentynine Palms Elementary | Larger | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Friendly Hills Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,168
- Students per teacher
- 19.1:1
- Resource Index
- 38/100
- Enrollment
- 719
- Students per teacher
- 19.4:1
- Resource Index
- 33/100
- Enrollment
- 647
- Students per teacher
- 21.6:1
- Resource Index
- 36/100
- Enrollment
- 586
- Students per teacher
- 25.5:1
- Resource Index
- 17/100
- Enrollment
- 579
- Students per teacher
- 25.2:1
- Resource Index
- 24/100
Similar elementary schools in Joshua Tree
1 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.
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 (~266 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~24.2:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Friendly Hills Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Friendly Hills Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Morongo Unified'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 Friendly Hills Elementary
How many students attend Friendly Hills Elementary?
Friendly Hills Elementary has 266 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Joshua Tree, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Friendly Hills Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Friendly Hills Elementary is 24.2:1, which is 13% higher than the California average of 21.5:1 and 54% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Friendly Hills Elementary?
51.3% of students at Friendly Hills Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Friendly Hills Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Friendly Hills Elementary is White at 51.9% of enrollment, in Joshua Tree, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 56.4/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Friendly Hills Elementary?
Friendly Hills Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 43/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Friendly Hills Elementary a good school?
Friendly Hills Elementary earns 43/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 73% of California schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Morongo Unified?
Besides Friendly Hills Elementary, Morongo Unified also operates Yucca Valley High (1,168 students), Twentynine Palms High (719 students), and La Contenta Middle (647 students). See the Morongo Unified district page for the complete list.
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 June 2026.