Enrollment
382
Arizona · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Other / mixed grade configuration NCES 040304001296
Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School — Fountain Hills, AZ
Federal NCES profile for Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 35/100.
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 75
📋 Attendance 0
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: Fountain Hills Unified District (4247) · Arizona
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.
Free-lunch eligible
26.9%
vs 48.3% Arizona avg
-44% vs state
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
Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School reports 382 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 26.9% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 44% below the Arizona average and 48% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 127 students per counselor, meeting the American School Counselor Association recommendation of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 47.4% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Fountain Hills Unified District (4247) spends $12,075 per pupil district-wide, below the Arizona average of $15,070 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 64.4% from local sources (property taxes), 22.6% from the state, and 13.0% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 35/100 (F), calculated from 3 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 Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Arizona state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Arizona | Arizona avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free-lunch eligible | 26.9% | ▼ 44% | 48.3% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 382 | top 46% | — | — |
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
26.9%
free-lunch eligible
— 44% below the Arizona average of 48.3%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Engagement
47.4%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$12,075
per pupil, district-wide
— below Arizona avg of $15,070
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors3.0 FTE
Per 127 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
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
Enrollment 382 Top 46% in Arizona — larger than 54% of 2,186 state schools
Teachers (FTE) —
Students per teacher —
Free-lunch eligible 26.9% -44% vs state
NCES ID 040304001296
Student demographics
White 42.4%
Hispanic or Latino 23.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native 22.5%
Two or More 7.9%
African American 2.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 1.0%
Asian 0.8%
Largest group: White at 42.4% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 3.0
Students per counselor 127:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 47.4%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 0
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Fountain Hills Unified District (4247), which includes Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School.
$12,075
Per student
-20%
vs Arizona
Avg $15,070
-38%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 64.4%
State 22.6%
Federal 13.0%
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
- 347
- Students per teacher
- —
- Enrollment
- 250
- Students per teacher
- —
- Enrollment
- 55
- Students per teacher
- —
Similar other schools in Fountain Hills
1 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
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 Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School
How many students attend Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School?
Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School has 382 students enrolled. It is a other school in FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School?
26.9% of students at Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Arizona average of 48.3%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School?
The largest demographic group at Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School is White at 42.4%. The school serves a diverse student body in FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School?
Mcdowell Mountain Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 35/100 (F) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.