Enrollment
127
Maine · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Howland, ME
Penobscot Valley High School
Federal NCES profile for Penobscot Valley High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 40/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 231125000432
👥 S:T ratio 61
📚 AP courses 20
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 49
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Penobscot Valley High School earns 40/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 72% of Maine schools.
- 40
- Resource Index · Typical
- 9.8:1
- small classes for Maine
- 37.3%
- free-lunch eligible
- 127
- students enrolled
Penobscot Valley High School has class sizes smaller than 72% of Maine schools. Computed live against every Maine school reporting to NCES.
School address
Teachers (FTE)
13.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
9.8:1
vs 11.1:1 Maine avg
-12% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
37.3%
vs 34.0% Maine avg
+10% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Penobscot Valley High School compares with Maine and U.S. medians
What stands out at Penobscot Valley High School
Penobscot Valley High School is a mid-sized high school in Howland, Maine, enrolling 127 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 9.8:1 puts it in the smaller third of Maine schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 37.3% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 127 puts it in the smaller third of Maine schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 569 scored Maine schools.
Against 86 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #38.
Its student body is predominantly White (97% of enrollment) (diversity index 6/100).
On the academic-pipeline side it reports 4 Advanced Placement courses.
Counselor coverage runs a bit thin, about 254 students per counselor, somewhat past the ASCA-recommended 250:1 benchmark.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 42.5% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 18.3% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Rsu 31/Msad 31 also operates Enfield Station Elementary School (210 students) and Hichborn Middle School (98 students) alongside Penobscot Valley High School.
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 Penobscot Valley High School compares
Penobscot Valley High School on the metrics families compare, against Maine and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Maine | Maine avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 9.8:1 | ▼ 12% | 11.1:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 37.3% | ▲ 10% | 34.0% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 127 | top 77% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
9.8:1
Leaner classes than 90% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
127
Bigger than 12% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
37.3%
free-lunch eligible
- 10% above the Maine average of 34.0%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
9.8:1
students per teacher
- 12% below state mean
Top 28% in Maine - lower ratio than 72% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
42.5%
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
$19,234
per pupil, district-wide
- below Maine avg of $20,083
Somewhat above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.5 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 6 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 4.7 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 96.9%
Hispanic or Latino 1.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native 1.6%
Largest group: White at 96.9% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 6.1/100
Simpson diversity index - at 6.1, Penobscot Valley High School is less mixed than the Maine school average of 20.6.
Programs
AP courses offered 4
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Rsu 31/Msad 31, which includes Penobscot Valley High School.
$19,234
Per student
-4%
vs Maine
Avg $20,083
+16%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 48.9%
State 32.7%
Federal 18.3%
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 Penobscot Valley High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enfield Station Elementary School | Larger | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Hichborn Middle School | Similar size | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Penobscot Valley High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 210
- Students per teacher
- 9.1:1
- Resource Index
- 34/100
- Enrollment
- 98
- Students per teacher
- 7.5:1
- Resource Index
- 52/100
Similar high schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Maine, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~127 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~9.8:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Penobscot Valley High School's federal record.
- Compare Penobscot Valley High School against another school. Compare schools
- Rsu 31/Msad 31'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 Penobscot Valley High School
How many students attend Penobscot Valley High School?
Penobscot Valley High School has 127 students enrolled. It is a high school in Howland, ME.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Penobscot Valley High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Penobscot Valley High School is 9.8:1, which is 12% lower than the Maine average of 11.1:1 and 38% 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 Penobscot Valley High School?
37.3% of students at Penobscot Valley High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Maine average of 34.0%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Penobscot Valley High School?
The largest demographic group at Penobscot Valley High School is White at 96.9% of enrollment, in Howland, ME.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Penobscot Valley High School?
Penobscot Valley High School has a Resource Investment Index of 40/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Penobscot Valley High School a good school?
Penobscot Valley High School earns 40/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 72% of Maine schools. 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 Rsu 31/Msad 31?
Besides Penobscot Valley High School, Rsu 31/Msad 31 also operates Enfield Station Elementary School (210 students) and Hichborn Middle School (98 students). See the Rsu 31/Msad 31 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.