Enrollment
559
Pennsylvania · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Tarentum, PA
Highlands El Sch
Federal NCES profile for Highlands El Sch, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 33/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 421188000191
👥 S:T ratio 50
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 13
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Highlands El Sch earns 33/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Pennsylvania median.
- 33
- Resource Index · Typical
- 12.4:1
- students per teacher
- 100.0%
- free-lunch eligible
- 559
- students enrolled
Highlands El Sch has class sizes near the Pennsylvania median. Computed live against every Pennsylvania school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Highlands Sd · Pennsylvania
NCES ID 421188000191 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
45.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12.4:1
vs 13.6:1 Pennsylvania avg
-9% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
100.0%
vs 58.1% Pennsylvania avg
+72% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Highlands El Sch compares with Pennsylvania and U.S. medians
What stands out at Highlands El Sch
Highlands El Sch is a high-poverty, mid-sized elementary school in Tarentum, Pennsylvania, enrolling 559 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 12.4:1 puts it in the smaller third of Pennsylvania schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 100.0% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 559 puts it in the larger third of Pennsylvania schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 2,889 scored Pennsylvania schools.
Against 497 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #331.
Its student body is led by White (66%) and Two or More (16%) (diversity index 52/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 559 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 34.9% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Among Tarentum's elementary schools, it stands alongside Curtisville Pri Ctr (390 students): Highlands El Sch is larger than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (12.4:1 vs 14.4:1).
Highlands Sd also operates Highlands Shs (665 students) and Highlands Ms (575 students) alongside Highlands El Sch.
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 Highlands El Sch compares
Highlands El Sch on the metrics families compare, against Pennsylvania and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 12.4:1 | ▼ 9% | 13.6:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 100.0% | ▲ 72% | 58.1% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 559 | top 35% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
12.4:1
Leaner classes than 72% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
559
Bigger than 69% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
100.0%
free-lunch eligible
- 72% above the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
12.4:1
students per teacher
- 9% below state mean
Top 35% in Pennsylvania - lower ratio than 65% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
34.9%
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
$17,029
per pupil, district-wide
- below Pennsylvania avg of $17,970
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 559 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 7 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.3 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 66.4%
Two or More 15.9%
African American 12.9%
Hispanic or Latino 4.3%
Asian 0.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%
Largest group: White at 66.4% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 51.5/100
Simpson diversity index - at 51.5, Highlands El Sch is more mixed than the Pennsylvania school average of 37.3.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Highlands Sd, which includes Highlands El Sch.
$17,029
Per student
-5%
vs Pennsylvania
Avg $17,970
+3%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 45.2%
State 47.4%
Federal 7.3%
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 Highlands El Sch Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands Shs | Similar size | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Highlands Ms | Similar size | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| Highlands Early Childhood Center | Smaller | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Highlands El Sch's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 665
- Students per teacher
- 17.1:1
- Resource Index
- 38/100
- Enrollment
- 575
- Students per teacher
- 10.3:1
- Resource Index
- 43/100
- Enrollment
- 205
- Students per teacher
- 14.6:1
- Resource Index
- 22/100
Similar elementary schools in Tarentum
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 Pennsylvania, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~559 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~12.4:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Highlands El Sch's federal record.
- Compare Highlands El Sch against another school. Compare schools
- Highlands Sd'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 Highlands El Sch
How many students attend Highlands El Sch?
Highlands El Sch has 559 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Tarentum, PA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Highlands El Sch?
The student-teacher ratio at Highlands El Sch is 12.4:1, which is 9% lower than the Pennsylvania average of 13.6:1 and 21% 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 Highlands El Sch?
100.0% of students at Highlands El Sch are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Highlands El Sch?
The largest demographic group at Highlands El Sch is White at 66.4% of enrollment, in Tarentum, PA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 51.5/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Highlands El Sch?
Highlands El Sch has a Resource Investment Index of 33/100 (typical 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).
Is Highlands El Sch a good school?
Highlands El Sch earns 33/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Pennsylvania median. 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 Highlands Sd?
Besides Highlands El Sch, Highlands Sd also operates Highlands Shs (665 students), Highlands Ms (575 students), and Highlands Early Childhood Center (205 students). See the Highlands Sd 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.