Enrollment
79
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Happy Camp, CA
Happy Camp Union Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Happy Camp Union Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 26/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 061653002087
👥 S:T ratio 47
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Happy Camp Union Elementary earns 26/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 92% of California schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most California schools.
- 26
- Resource Index · Lower
- 13.2:1
- small classes for California
- 57.9%
- free-lunch eligible
- 79
- students enrolled
Happy Camp Union Elementary has class sizes smaller than 92% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Happy Camp Union Elementary · California
NCES ID 061653002087 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
6.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
13.2:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
-39% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
57.9%
vs 55.5% California avg
+4% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Happy Camp Union Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians
What stands out at Happy Camp Union Elementary
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Happy Camp Union Elementary sits near the smaller end of the California enrollment distribution while also reporting a lower student-teacher ratio than most state schools. That pairing is consistent with a compact, teacher-dense setting, though small scale can limit the number of specialized courses or support roles a campus can sustain. The program and staffing sections below show whether the lean ratio extends beyond classroom teachers into broader student services.
Need and resources require a component-level read
Happy Camp Union Elementary falls within the wide middle of the California distribution on both free-meal eligibility and the Resource Investment Index. Neither measure supplies an honest headline by itself. The useful distinctions are in the components: classroom staffing, counselor availability, attendance, gifted-program access, and district spending. Those fields can pull in opposite directions even when the overall percentile looks ordinary.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Happy Camp Union Elementary's 63.3% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Happy Camp Union Elementary is a higher-need, small elementary school in Happy Camp, California, enrolling 79 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 13.2:1, Happy Camp Union Elementary is leaner than roughly 92% of California schools and 39% under the state's 21.5:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 57.9% lands close to the California typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 91% of California schools, with 79 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 9,998 scored California schools.
Among 214 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need California schools statewide, it ranks #167, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by American Indian / Alaska Native (38%) and White (34%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 69/100).
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 63.3% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Happy Camp Union Elementary spends $26,471 per pupil, 60% above the California average, a better-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 29.2% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Happy Camp Union Elementary operates only this one school, so Happy Camp Union Elementary has no district-mates to compare against locally. At 79 students, it is also a small operation, on the smaller end of California's single-school districts.
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 Happy Camp Union Elementary compares
Happy Camp Union 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 | 13.2:1 | ▼ 39% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 57.9% | ▲ 4% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 79 | top 91% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
13.2:1
Leaner classes than 65% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
79
Bigger than 8% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
57.9%
free-lunch eligible
- 4% 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
13.2:1
students per teacher
- 39% below state mean
Top 8% in California - lower ratio than 92% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
63.3%
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
$26,471
per pupil, district-wide
- above California avg of $16,509
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
American Indian / Alaska Native 38.0%
White 34.2%
Two or More 20.3%
Hispanic or Latino 7.6%
Largest group: American Indian / Alaska Native at 38.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 69.2/100
Simpson diversity index - at 69.2, Happy Camp Union Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Happy Camp Union Elementary, which includes Happy Camp Union Elementary.
$26,471
Per student
+60%
vs California
Avg $16,509
+60%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 23.4%
State 47.4%
Federal 29.2%
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 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 (~79 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~13.2:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Happy Camp Union Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Happy Camp Union Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Happy Camp Union Elementary'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 Happy Camp Union Elementary
How many students attend Happy Camp Union Elementary?
Happy Camp Union Elementary has 79 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Happy Camp, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Happy Camp Union Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Happy Camp Union Elementary is 13.2:1, which is 39% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 16% lower 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 Happy Camp Union Elementary?
57.9% of students at Happy Camp Union Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Happy Camp Union Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Happy Camp Union Elementary is American Indian / Alaska Native at 38.0% of enrollment, in Happy Camp, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 69.2/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Happy Camp Union Elementary?
Happy Camp Union Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 26/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Happy Camp Union Elementary?
None reported; Happy Camp Union Elementary operates only Happy Camp Union Elementary as a public school district in NCES's records.
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 July 2026.