Enrollment
119
Arizona · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 040553001552
Pierson High School — Nogales, AZ
Federal NCES profile for Pierson High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 31/100.
👥 Class size 37
📚 AP courses 10
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 76
📋 Attendance 0
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: Nogales Unified District (4457) · 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.
Teachers (FTE)
9.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
15.8:1
vs 17.7:1 Arizona avg
-11% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
83.8%
vs 48.3% Arizona avg
+73% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Pierson High School compares with Arizona 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
Pierson High School reports 119 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 9.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 15.8:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 11% below the Arizona state mean of 17.7:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 1% lower, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 83.8% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 73% above the Arizona average and 62% above the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 119 students per counselor, meeting the American School Counselor Association recommendation of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 100.0% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Nogales Unified District (4457) spends $10,385 per pupil district-wide, below the Arizona average of $15,070 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 15.7% from local sources (property taxes), 56.8% from the state, and 27.5% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 31/100 (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 Pierson High School 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 15.8:1 | ▼ 11% | 17.7:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 83.8% | ▲ 73% | 48.3% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 119 | top 20% | — | — |
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
83.8%
free-lunch eligible
— 73% above the Arizona average of 48.3%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
15.8:1
students per teacher
— 11% below state mean
Top 37% in Arizona — lower ratio than 63% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
100.0%
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
$10,385
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
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 119 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
1
in-school suspensions + 5 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 5.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 119 Top 20% in Arizona — larger than 80% of 2,186 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 9.0
Students per teacher 15.8:1 -11% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 83.8% +73% vs state
NCES ID 040553001552
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 100.0%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 100.0% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP program Not offered
Counselors (FTE) 1.0
Students per counselor 119:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 100.0%
In-school suspensions 1
Out-of-school suspensions 5
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Nogales Unified District (4457), which includes Pierson High School.
$10,385
Per student
-31%
vs Arizona
Avg $15,070
-47%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 15.7%
State 56.8%
Federal 27.5%
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
- 1,774
- Students per teacher
- 23.6:1
- Enrollment
- 784
- Students per teacher
- 21.7:1
- Enrollment
- 547
- Students per teacher
- 22.2:1
- Enrollment
- 508
- Students per teacher
- 21.5:1
- Enrollment
- 421
- Students per teacher
- 19.9:1
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 Pierson High School
How many students attend Pierson High School?
Pierson High School has 119 students enrolled. It is a high school in Nogales, AZ.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Pierson High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Pierson High School is 15.8:1, which is 11% lower than the Arizona average of 17.7:1 and 1% lower 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 Pierson High School?
83.8% of students at Pierson High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Arizona average of 48.3%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Pierson High School?
The largest demographic group at Pierson High School is Hispanic or Latino at 100.0%. The school serves a student body in Nogales, AZ.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Pierson High School?
Pierson High School has a Resource Investment Index of 31/100 (F) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.