Enrollment
463
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 063036004736
Pierce High — Arbuckle, CA
Federal NCES profile for Pierce High, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 24/100.
👥 Class size 21
📚 AP courses 30
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 7
📋 Attendance 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: Pierce Joint Unified · California
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.
Teachers (FTE)
26.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
19.7:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-9% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
58.3%
vs 55.5% California avg
+5% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Pierce High compares with California and U.S. medians
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
Pierce High reports 463 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 26.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 19.7:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 9% below the California state mean of 21.6:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 24% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 58.3% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 5% above the California average and 13% above the national baseline. The school offers 6 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 463 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 28.1% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Pierce Joint Unified spends $16,120 per pupil district-wide, below the California average of $18,039 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 35.1% from local sources (property taxes), 57.1% from the state, and 7.8% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 24/100 (F), calculated from 5 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 Pierce High compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against California state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs California | California avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 19.7:1 | ▼ 9% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 58.3% | ▲ 5% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 463 | top 49% | — | — |
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
58.3%
free-lunch eligible
— 5% above the California average of 55.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
19.7:1
students per teacher
— 9% below state mean
Top 27% in California — lower ratio than 73% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
28.1%
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
$16,120
per pupil, district-wide
— below California avg of $18,039
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 463 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
2
in-school suspensions + 29 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.4 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 6.7 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 463 Top 49% in California — larger than 51% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 26.0
Students per teacher 19.7:1 -9% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 58.3% +5% vs state
NCES ID 063036004736
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 82.3%
White 14.0%
African American 1.3%
Asian 1.1%
Two or More 1.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.2%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 82.3% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 6
Counselors (FTE) 1.0
Students per counselor 463:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 28.1%
In-school suspensions 2
Out-of-school suspensions 29
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Pierce Joint Unified, which includes Pierce High.
$16,120
Per student
-11%
vs California
Avg $18,039
-17%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 35.1%
State 57.1%
Federal 7.8%
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
- 604
- Students per teacher
- 22.9:1
- Enrollment
- 321
- Students per teacher
- 18.5:1
- Enrollment
- 49
- Students per teacher
- 17:1
- Enrollment
- 10
- Students per teacher
- —
Similar high schools in Arbuckle
1 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) 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 Pierce High
How many students attend Pierce High?
Pierce High has 463 students enrolled. It is a high school in Arbuckle, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Pierce High?
The student-teacher ratio at Pierce High is 19.7:1, which is 9% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 24% higher than the national average of 15.9:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Pierce High?
58.3% of students at Pierce High are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Pierce High?
The largest demographic group at Pierce High is Hispanic or Latino at 82.3%. The school serves a diverse student body in Arbuckle, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Pierce High?
Pierce High has a Resource Investment Index of 24/100 (F) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.