Elementary school (grades K-5) · Grover Beach, CA

Grover Beach Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Grover Beach Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 24/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 062308003519
0/100100/10024/100
👥 S:T ratio
26
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
0
📋 Attendance
0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Grover Beach Elementary earns 24/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 77% of California schools.

#3 of 3
elementary schools in Grover Beach · Resource Index
24
Resource Index · Lower
18.4:1
small classes for California
65.3%
free-lunch eligible

Grover Beach Elementary has class sizes smaller than 77% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Grover Beach Elementary ranks #3 of 3 elementary schools in Grover Beach, CA.

Enrollment

368

California · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

20.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

18.4:1

vs 21.5:1 California avg

-14% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

65.3%

vs 55.5% California avg

+18% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Grover Beach Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Grover Beach Elementary

Grover Beach Elementary is a higher-need, mid-sized elementary school in Grover Beach, California, enrolling 368 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 18.4:1 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by student-teacher ratio.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 65.3% lands close to the California typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

With 368 students, its enrollment sits close to the California median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 9,998 scored California schools.

Against 1,582 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #886.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (66%) and White (25%) (diversity index 50/100).

Counselor access is stretched at roughly 736 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 41.3% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Among Grover Beach's elementary schools, it stands alongside Fairgrove Elementary (365 students): Grover Beach Elementary is larger than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (18.4:1 vs 19.2:1).

Lucia Mar Unified also operates Arroyo Grande High (2,012 students) and Nipomo High (819 students) alongside Grover Beach 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 Grover Beach Elementary compares

Grover Beach 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 18.4:1 ▼ 14% 21.5:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 65.3% ▲ 18% 55.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 368 top 65% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

18.4:1
Leaner classes than 22% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
368
Bigger than 42% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
65.3%
free-lunch eligible - 18% above the California average of 55.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
18.4:1
students per teacher - 14% below state mean
Top 23% in California - lower ratio than 77% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
41.3%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$13,869
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
Counselors0.5 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
8
in-school suspensions + 22 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 2.2 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 8.2 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

Hispanic or Latino 65.7%
White 24.5%
Two or More 6.0%
Asian 3.5%
African American 0.3%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 65.7% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 50.3/100

Simpson diversity index - at 50.3, Grover Beach Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Lucia Mar Unified, which includes Grover Beach Elementary.

$13,869
Per student
-16%
vs California
Avg $16,509
-16%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 58.3%
State 30.7%
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.

How Grover Beach Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Arroyo Grande High Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Nipomo High Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Harloe Elementary Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Dana Elementary Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Lange (Dorothea) Elementary Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Grover Beach Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Lucia Mar Unified · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar elementary schools in Grover Beach

2 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.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Grover Beach Elementary's federal record.

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 Grover Beach Elementary

How many students attend Grover Beach Elementary?

Grover Beach Elementary has 368 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Grover Beach, CA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Grover Beach Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Grover Beach Elementary is 18.4:1, which is 14% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 17% higher than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Grover Beach Elementary?

65.3% of students at Grover Beach Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Grover Beach Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Grover Beach Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 65.7% of enrollment, in Grover Beach, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 50.3/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Grover Beach Elementary?

Grover Beach Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 24/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Grover Beach Elementary rank among elementary schools in Grover Beach?

By Resource Investment Index, Grover Beach Elementary ranks #3 of 3 elementary schools in Grover Beach, CA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Grover Beach on the city page.

Is Grover Beach Elementary a good school?

Grover Beach Elementary earns 24/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 77% 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 Lucia Mar Unified?

Besides Grover Beach Elementary, Lucia Mar Unified also operates Arroyo Grande High (2,012 students), Nipomo High (819 students), and Harloe Elementary (619 students). See the Lucia Mar Unified district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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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.