Enrollment
470
Minnesota · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Aurora, MN
Mesabi East Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Mesabi East Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 33/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 279145002323
👥 S:T ratio 50
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 6
📋 Attendance 47
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Mesabi East Elementary earns 33/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Minnesota median.
- 33
- Resource Index · Typical
- 12.4:1
- students per teacher
- 42.2%
- free-lunch eligible
- 470
- students enrolled
Mesabi East Elementary has class sizes near the Minnesota median. Computed live against every Minnesota school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Mesabi East School District · Minnesota
NCES ID 279145002323 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
38.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12.4:1
vs 15.8:1 Minnesota avg
-22% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
42.2%
vs 42.8% Minnesota avg
-1% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Mesabi East Elementary compares with Minnesota and U.S. medians
What stands out at Mesabi East Elementary
Mesabi East Elementary is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Aurora, Minnesota, enrolling 470 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 12.4:1 puts it in the smaller third of Minnesota schools by student-teacher ratio.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 42.2% lands close to the Minnesota typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
Enrollment of 470 puts it in the larger third of Minnesota schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 2,334 scored Minnesota schools.
Against 362 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #248.
Its student body is predominantly White (86% of enrollment) (diversity index 26/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 470 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 21.3% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Its district, Mesabi East School District, also runs Mesabi East Secondary (392 students).
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 Mesabi East Elementary compares
Mesabi East Elementary on the metrics families compare, against Minnesota and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Minnesota | Minnesota avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 12.4:1 | ▼ 22% | 15.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 42.2% | ▼ 1% | 42.8% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 470 | top 28% | - | - |
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.
470
Bigger than 58% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
42.2%
free-lunch eligible
- 1% below the Minnesota average of 42.8%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
12.4:1
students per teacher
- 22% below state mean
Top 32% in Minnesota - lower ratio than 68% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
21.3%
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
$15,497
per pupil, district-wide
- above Minnesota avg of $15,270
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 470 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
3
in-school suspensions + 2 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.1 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 85.7%
Two or More 8.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native 2.8%
Hispanic or Latino 1.9%
African American 0.4%
Asian 0.2%
Largest group: White at 85.7% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 25.6/100
Simpson diversity index - at 25.6, Mesabi East Elementary is less mixed than the Minnesota school average of 42.8.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Mesabi East School District, which includes Mesabi East Elementary.
$15,497
Per student
+1%
vs Minnesota
Avg $15,270
-7%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 31.4%
State 56.3%
Federal 12.3%
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 Mesabi East Elementary Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesabi East Secondary | Similar size | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Mesabi East Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 392
- Students per teacher
- 15.7:1
- Resource Index
- 22/100
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Minnesota, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~470 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~12.4:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Mesabi East Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Mesabi East Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Mesabi East School District'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 Mesabi East Elementary
How many students attend Mesabi East Elementary?
Mesabi East Elementary has 470 students enrolled. It is a public school in Aurora, MN.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Mesabi East Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Mesabi East Elementary is 12.4:1, which is 22% lower than the Minnesota average of 15.8:1 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 Mesabi East Elementary?
42.2% of students at Mesabi East Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Minnesota average of 42.8%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Mesabi East Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Mesabi East Elementary is White at 85.7% of enrollment, in Aurora, MN.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Mesabi East Elementary?
Mesabi East Elementary 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 Mesabi East Elementary a good school?
Mesabi East Elementary earns 33/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Minnesota 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 Mesabi East School District?
Besides Mesabi East Elementary, Mesabi East School District also operates Mesabi East Secondary (392 students). See the Mesabi East School District 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.