Elementary school (grades K-5) · Palo Alto, CA

Juana Briones Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Juana Briones Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 42/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 062961004591
0/100100/10042/100
👥 S:T ratio
20
🌟 Gifted program
30
📋 Attendance
77
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Juana Briones Elementary earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the California median.

#4 of 10
elementary schools in Palo Alto · Resource Index
42
Resource Index · Typical
20:1
students per teacher
7.8%
free-lunch eligible

Juana Briones Elementary has class sizes near the California median. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Juana Briones Elementary ranks #4 of 10 elementary schools in Palo Alto, CA.

School address

Enrollment

260

California · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

13.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

20:1

vs 21.5:1 California avg

-7% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

7.8%

vs 55.5% California avg

-86% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Juana Briones Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians

At or below 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 Juana Briones Elementary

Juana Briones Elementary is a lower-poverty, mid-sized elementary school in Palo Alto, California, enrolling 260 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 20:1 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by student-teacher ratio.

Comparatively few students face economic hardship here, 7.8% free-meal eligibility runs 86% below the California average.

Enrollment of 260 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 178 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #63.

Its student body is led by Asian (49%) and White (30%) (diversity index 65/100).

Attendance holds up well here: only 9.2% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.

The surrounding Palo Alto Unified spends $27,172 per pupil, 65% above the California average, a better-resourced district than most.

Among Palo Alto's elementary schools, it stands alongside Ohlone Elementary (464 students): Juana Briones Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (20:1 vs 20.2:1).

Palo Alto Unified also operates Palo Alto High (1,891 students) and Henry M. Gunn High (1,643 students) alongside Juana Briones 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 Juana Briones Elementary compares

Juana Briones 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 20:1 ▼ 7% 21.5:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 7.8% ▼ 86% 55.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 260 top 78% - -

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

20:1
Leaner classes than 16% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
260
Bigger than 27% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
7.8%
free-lunch eligible - 86% below the California average of 55.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold, among the lower-need profiles in the state; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
20:1
students per teacher - 7% below state mean
Top 35% in California - lower ratio than 65% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
9.2%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 5-10% range, close to the pre-pandemic national baseline.
Funding equity
$27,172
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.

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

Asian 48.8%
White 30.4%
Two or More 10.4%
Hispanic or Latino 7.7%
African American 1.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 1.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.4%

Largest group: Asian at 48.8% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 65.2/100

Simpson diversity index - at 65.2, Juana Briones Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Palo Alto Unified, which includes Juana Briones Elementary.

$27,172
Per student
+65%
vs California
Avg $16,509
+64%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 86.1%
State 11.1%
Federal 2.8%

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 Juana Briones Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Palo Alto High Larger Similar economic need Lower S:T ratio
Henry M. Gunn High Larger Similar economic need Lower S:T ratio
Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle Larger Similar economic need Lower S:T ratio
Frank S. Greene Jr. Middle Larger Similar economic need Lower S:T ratio
Ellen Fletcher Middle Larger Similar economic need Lower S:T ratio

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

Other Schools in This District

Palo Alto Unified · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar elementary schools in Palo Alto

6 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 Juana Briones 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 Juana Briones Elementary

How many students attend Juana Briones Elementary?

Juana Briones Elementary has 260 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Palo Alto, CA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Juana Briones Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Juana Briones Elementary is 20:1, which is 7% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 27% 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 Juana Briones Elementary?

7.8% of students at Juana Briones Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Juana Briones Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Juana Briones Elementary is Asian at 48.8% of enrollment, in Palo Alto, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 65.2/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Juana Briones Elementary?

Juana Briones Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 42/100 (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).

How does Juana Briones Elementary rank among elementary schools in Palo Alto?

By Resource Investment Index, Juana Briones Elementary ranks #4 of 10 elementary schools in Palo Alto, 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 Palo Alto on the city page.

Is Juana Briones Elementary a good school?

Juana Briones Elementary earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the California 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 Palo Alto Unified?

Besides Juana Briones Elementary, Palo Alto Unified also operates Palo Alto High (1,891 students), Henry M. Gunn High (1,643 students), and Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle (1,002 students). See the Palo Alto 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.