Enrollment
2,170
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 062631003929
Los Altos High — Los Altos, CA
Federal NCES profile for Los Altos High, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 51/100.
👥 Class size 27
📚 AP courses 100
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 28
📋 Attendance 69
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: Mountain View-Los Altos Union High · California
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)
117.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
18.3:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-15% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
12.4%
vs 55.5% California avg
-78% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Los Altos High compares with California 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
Los Altos High reports 2,170 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 117.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 18.3:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 15% below the California state mean of 21.6:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 15% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 12.4% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 78% below the California average and 76% below the national baseline. The school offers 25 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 362 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 12.4% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Mountain View-Los Altos Union High spends $43,128 per pupil district-wide, above the California average of $18,039 and above the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 85.3% from local sources (property taxes), 11.8% from the state, and 2.9% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 51/100 (C-), 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 Los Altos High compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against California state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs California | California avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 18.3:1 | ▼ 15% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 12.4% | ▼ 78% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 2,170 | top 98% | — | — |
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
12.4%
free-lunch eligible
— 78% below the California average of 55.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
18.3:1
students per teacher
— 15% below state mean
Top 19% in California — lower ratio than 81% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
12.4%
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
$43,128
per pupil, district-wide
— above California avg of $18,039
Above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors6.0 FTE
Per 362 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 39 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.8 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 2,170 Top 98% in California — larger than 2% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 117.0
Students per teacher 18.3:1 -15% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 12.4% -78% vs state
NCES ID 062631003929
Student demographics
Asian 30.7%
White 29.3%
Hispanic or Latino 28.2%
Two or More 10.5%
African American 0.6%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%
Largest group: Asian at 30.7% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 25
Counselors (FTE) 6.0
Students per counselor 362:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 12.4%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 39
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Mountain View-Los Altos Union High, which includes Los Altos High.
$43,128
Per student
+139%
vs California
Avg $18,039
+121%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 85.3%
State 11.8%
Federal 2.9%
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.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 2,187
- Students per teacher
- 19.1:1
- Enrollment
- 78
- Students per teacher
- 13.8:1
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 Los Altos High
How many students attend Los Altos High?
Los Altos High has 2,170 students enrolled. It is a high school in Los Altos, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Los Altos High?
The student-teacher ratio at Los Altos High is 18.3:1, which is 15% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 15% higher 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 Los Altos High?
12.4% of students at Los Altos High are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Los Altos High?
The largest demographic group at Los Altos High is Asian at 30.7%. The school serves a diverse student body in Los Altos, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Los Altos High?
Los Altos High has a Resource Investment Index of 51/100 (C-) 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.