Enrollment
99
Iowa · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Churdan, IA
Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School
Federal NCES profile for Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 43/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 192238001339
👥 S:T ratio 0
🌟 Gifted program 70
📋 Attendance 60
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School earns 43/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 99% of Iowa schools.
- 43
- Resource Index · Typical
- 33:1
- large classes for Iowa
- 35.4%
- free-lunch eligible
- 99
- students enrolled
Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School has class sizes larger than 99% of Iowa schools. Computed live against every Iowa school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Paton-Churdan Comm School District · Iowa
NCES ID 192238001339 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
3.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
33:1
vs 14.8:1 Iowa avg
+123% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
35.4%
vs 36.4% Iowa avg
-3% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School compares with Iowa and U.S. medians
What stands out at Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School
Small campus without a staffing-size advantage
Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School enrolls fewer students than most Iowa schools, yet its student-teacher ratio is still on the heavier side of the state distribution. Small enrollment therefore does not translate into more teacher capacity per student here. That makes staffing capacity, rather than campus scale alone, the useful interpretation. The counselor, attendance, and program indicators below help show whether the pressure is narrow or part of a broader resource constraint.
Need and resources require a component-level read
Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School falls within the wide middle of the Iowa distribution on both free-meal eligibility and the Resource Investment Index. Neither measure supplies an honest headline by itself. The useful distinctions are in the components: classroom staffing, counselor availability, attendance, gifted-program access, and district spending. Those fields can pull in opposite directions even when the overall percentile looks ordinary.
A combined-grade campus has a different support burden
Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School serves a combined grade span rather than a conventional elementary, middle, or high-school band. That structure can require the same campus to cover transitions, counseling needs, and programs for students at substantially different developmental stages, so a single staffing ratio deserves more caution than it would at a narrower-grade school. Federal totals show the available people and programs, but not how those resources are divided among grade levels.
Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School is a small combined-grade school in Churdan, Iowa, enrolling 99 students.
Class loads run heavy: 33:1 is larger than about 99% of Iowa schools and 123% above the 14.8:1 state mean, so each teacher carries more students than is typical.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 35.4% lands close to the Iowa typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 93% of Iowa schools, with 99 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 1,322 scored Iowa schools.
Among 88 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need Iowa schools statewide, it ranks #67, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is predominantly White (89% of enrollment) (diversity index 20/100).
16.2% of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 collection, in line with the post-pandemic national range.
Among Churdan's public schools, it stands alongside Paton-Churdan Elementary (86 students): Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School is larger than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (33:1 vs 7.8:1).
Its district, Paton-Churdan Comm School District, also runs Paton-Churdan Elementary (86 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 Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School compares
Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School on the metrics families compare, against Iowa and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Iowa | Iowa avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 33:1 | ▲ 123% | 14.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 35.4% | ▼ 3% | 36.4% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 99 | top 93% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
33:1
Leaner classes than 1% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
99
Bigger than 10% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
35.4%
free-lunch eligible
- 3% below the Iowa average of 36.4%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
33:1
students per teacher
- 123% above state mean
Top 99% in Iowa - lower ratio than 1% of state schools
Well above 20:1, one of the more stretched staffing loads nationally relative to enrollment.
Engagement
16.2%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 15-20% range, nearing the "high" absenteeism threshold.
Funding equity
$15,016
per pupil, district-wide
- above Iowa avg of $13,441
Somewhat 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
1
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 88.9%
Hispanic or Latino 7.1%
Two or More 3.0%
African American 1.0%
Largest group: White at 88.9% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 20.4/100
Simpson diversity index - at 20.4, Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School is less mixed than the Iowa school average of 33.8.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Paton-Churdan Comm School District, which includes Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School.
$15,016
Per student
+12%
vs Iowa
Avg $13,441
-15%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 49.7%
State 41.8%
Federal 8.5%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2022-23 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paton-Churdan Elementary | Similar size | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 86
- Students per teacher
- 7.8:1
- Resource Index
- 60/100
Similar other schools in Churdan
1 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Iowa, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~99 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School's federal record.
- Compare Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School against another school. Compare schools
- Paton-Churdan Comm 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 Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School
How many students attend Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School?
Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School has 99 students enrolled. It is a public school in Churdan, IA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School is 33:1, which is 123% higher than the Iowa average of 14.8:1 and 110% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School?
35.4% of students at Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Iowa average of 36.4%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School?
The largest demographic group at Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School is White at 88.9% of enrollment, in Churdan, IA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School?
Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School has a Resource Investment Index of 43/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Paton-Churdan Comm School District?
Besides Paton-Churdan Jr-Sr High School, Paton-Churdan Comm School District also operates Paton-Churdan Elementary (86 students). See the Paton-Churdan Comm 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, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.