Enrollment
554
Arizona · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Elementary school (grades K-5) NCES 040063801796 Charter school
Pathfinder Academy — Mesa, AZ
Federal NCES profile for Pathfinder Academy, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 30/100.
🌟 Gifted program 30
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: Edkey Inc. - Pathfinder Academy (81045) · 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
10.0%
vs 48.3% Arizona avg
-79% 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
Pathfinder Academy reports 554 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 10.0% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 79% below the Arizona average and 81% below the national baseline.
On the finance side, the surrounding Edkey Inc. - Pathfinder Academy (81045) spends $8,760 per pupil district-wide, below the Arizona average of $15,070 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 1.7% from local sources (property taxes), 86.3% from the state, and 12.1% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 30/100 (F), calculated from 1 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 Pathfinder Academy 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 | 10.0% | ▼ 79% | 48.3% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 554 | top 67% | — | — |
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
10.0%
free-lunch eligible
— 79% below the Arizona average of 48.3%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Funding equity
$8,760
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
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 9 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 554 Top 67% in Arizona — larger than 33% of 2,186 state schools
Teachers (FTE) —
Students per teacher —
Free-lunch eligible 10.0% -79% vs state
NCES ID 040063801796
Student demographics
White 85.4%
Hispanic or Latino 9.7%
Two or More 3.4%
Asian 0.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.5%
African American 0.4%
Largest group: White at 85.4% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 0.0
Discipline & special education
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 9
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Edkey Inc. - Pathfinder Academy (81045), which includes Pathfinder Academy.
$8,760
Per student
-42%
vs Arizona
Avg $15,070
-55%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 1.7%
State 86.3%
Federal 12.1%
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
- 294
- Students per teacher
- —
- Enrollment
- 114
- Students per teacher
- —
Similar elementary schools in Mesa
6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.
Sequoia Elementary School
Standard public school
764 students
Burke Basic School
Standard public school
634 students
Imagine East Mesa Elementary
Standard public school
611 students
Shepherd Junior High School
Standard public school
581 students 18.3:1 students per teacher
Noah Webster Schools- Mesa
Standard public school
525 students
Asu Preparatory Academy-Polytechnic Elementary
Standard public school
497 students
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 Pathfinder Academy
How many students attend Pathfinder Academy?
Pathfinder Academy has 554 students enrolled. It is a elementary school in MESA, AZ.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Pathfinder Academy?
10.0% of students at Pathfinder Academy are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Arizona average of 48.3%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Pathfinder Academy?
The largest demographic group at Pathfinder Academy is White at 85.4%. The school serves a diverse student body in MESA, AZ.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Pathfinder Academy?
Pathfinder Academy has a Resource Investment Index of 30/100 (F) based on 1 factor: student-teacher ratio. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Limited indicators were available, so the index reflects partial data.