Enrollment
313
Pennsylvania · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 421338002680
Laurel Hs — New Castle, PA
Federal NCES profile for Laurel Hs, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 49/100.
👥 Class size 53
📚 AP courses 20
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 37
📋 Attendance 67
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
District: Laurel Sd · Pennsylvania
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
28.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
11.7:1
vs 13.5:1 Pennsylvania avg
-13% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
21.0%
vs 58.1% Pennsylvania avg
-64% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Laurel Hs compares with Pennsylvania and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Laurel Hs reports 313 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 28.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 11.7:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 13% below the Pennsylvania state mean of 13.5:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 26% lower, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 21.0% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 64% below the Pennsylvania average and 59% below the national baseline. The school offers 4 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 313 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 13.4% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Laurel Sd spends $19,696 per pupil district-wide, below the Pennsylvania average of $22,745 and above the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 31.7% from local sources (property taxes), 59.6% from the state, and 8.7% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 49/100 (D), calculated from 5 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Laurel Hs compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Pennsylvania state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 11.7:1 | ▼ 13% | 13.5:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 21.0% | ▼ 64% | 58.1% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 313 | top 25% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
21.0%
free-lunch eligible
— 64% below the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
11.7:1
students per teacher
— 13% below state mean
Top 22% in Pennsylvania — lower ratio than 78% of state schools
Below the 15:1 benchmark — typical of schools with smaller class sizes and more individualized attention.
Engagement
13.4%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Between 10–20% — above the pre-pandemic baseline of ~15% nationally but within the current U.S. range.
Funding equity
$19,696
per pupil, district-wide
— below Pennsylvania avg of $22,745
Above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 313 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 8 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 313 Top 25% in Pennsylvania — larger than 75% of 2,930 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 28.0
Students per teacher 11.7:1 -13% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 21.0% -64% vs state
NCES ID 421338002680
Student demographics
White 95.8%
Two or More 1.9%
Hispanic or Latino 1.6%
African American 0.3%
Asian 0.3%
Largest group: White at 95.8% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 4
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 1.0
Students per counselor 313:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 13.4%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 8
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Laurel Sd, which includes Laurel Hs.
$19,696
Per student
-13%
vs Pennsylvania
Avg $22,745
+1%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 31.7%
State 59.6%
Federal 8.7%
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.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 503
- Students per teacher
- 15.5:1
- Enrollment
- 160
- Students per teacher
- 23:1
Similar high schools in New Castle
4 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.
New Castle Shs
Standard public school
740 students 15.7:1 students per teacher
Lawrence County Ctc
Vocational / career-technical school
418 students 12.6:1 students per teacher
Mohawk Shs
Standard public school
406 students 14.7:1 students per teacher
Union Area Hs
Standard public school
193 students 10.8:1 students per teacher
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Laurel Hs
How many students attend Laurel Hs?
Laurel Hs has 313 students enrolled. It is a high school in New Castle, PA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Laurel Hs?
The student-teacher ratio at Laurel Hs is 11.7:1, which is 13% lower than the Pennsylvania average of 13.5:1 and 26% lower than the national average of 15.9:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Laurel Hs?
21.0% of students at Laurel Hs are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Laurel Hs?
The largest demographic group at Laurel Hs is White at 95.8%. The school serves a diverse student body in New Castle, PA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Laurel Hs?
Laurel Hs has a Resource Investment Index of 49/100 (D) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.