Enrollment
1,085
Pennsylvania · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Punxutawney, PA
Punxsutawney Area El Sch
Federal NCES profile for Punxsutawney Area El Sch, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 38/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 421980007641
👥 S:T ratio 53
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 28
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Punxsutawney Area El Sch earns 38/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 76% of Pennsylvania schools. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Pennsylvania schools.
- 38
- Resource Index · Typical
- 11.7:1
- small classes for Pennsylvania
- 64.2%
- free-lunch eligible
- 1,085
- students enrolled
Punxsutawney Area El Sch has class sizes smaller than 76% of Pennsylvania schools. Computed live against every Pennsylvania school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Punxsutawney Area Sd · Pennsylvania
NCES ID 421980007641 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
93.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
11.7:1
vs 13.6:1 Pennsylvania avg
-14% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
64.2%
vs 58.1% Pennsylvania avg
+10% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Punxsutawney Area El Sch compares with Pennsylvania and U.S. medians
What stands out at Punxsutawney Area El Sch
Punxsutawney Area El Sch is a higher-need, large elementary school in Punxutawney, Pennsylvania, enrolling 1,085 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 11.7:1 puts it in the smaller third of Pennsylvania schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 64.2% of students eligible for free meals.
By headcount it is one of the larger campuses in Pennsylvania, bigger than 92% of state schools at 1,085 students.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 2,889 scored Pennsylvania schools.
Against 55 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #36.
Its student body is predominantly White (95% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 9/100).
Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 362 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 42.0% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district, Punxsutawney Area Sd, also runs Punxsutawney Area Hs (810 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 Punxsutawney Area El Sch compares
Punxsutawney Area El Sch on the metrics families compare, against Pennsylvania and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 11.7:1 | ▼ 14% | 13.6:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 64.2% | ▲ 10% | 58.1% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 1,085 | top 8% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
11.7:1
Leaner classes than 78% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
1,085
Bigger than 93% of US schools by enrollment, a large campus nationally.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
64.2%
free-lunch eligible
- 10% above the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
11.7:1
students per teacher
- 14% below state mean
Top 24% in Pennsylvania - lower ratio than 76% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
42.0%
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
$17,581
per pupil, district-wide
- below Pennsylvania avg of $17,970
Somewhat above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors3.0 FTE
Per 362 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
52
in-school suspensions + 17 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 4.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 6.4 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 95.2%
Two or More 1.9%
Hispanic or Latino 1.8%
African American 0.8%
Asian 0.2%
Largest group: White at 95.2% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 9.3/100
Simpson diversity index - at 9.3, Punxsutawney Area El Sch is less mixed than the Pennsylvania school average of 37.3.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Punxsutawney Area Sd, which includes Punxsutawney Area El Sch.
$17,581
Per student
-2%
vs Pennsylvania
Avg $17,970
+6%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 27.5%
State 59.3%
Federal 13.2%
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 Punxsutawney Area El Sch Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Punxsutawney Area Hs | Smaller | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Punxsutawney Area El Sch's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 810
- Students per teacher
- 10:1
- Resource Index
- 44/100
Similar elementary schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Pennsylvania, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~1,085 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~11.7:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Punxsutawney Area El Sch's federal record.
- Compare Punxsutawney Area El Sch against another school. Compare schools
- Punxsutawney Area Sd'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 Punxsutawney Area El Sch
How many students attend Punxsutawney Area El Sch?
Punxsutawney Area El Sch has 1,085 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Punxutawney, PA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Punxsutawney Area El Sch?
The student-teacher ratio at Punxsutawney Area El Sch is 11.7:1, which is 14% lower than the Pennsylvania average of 13.6:1 and 25% 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 Punxsutawney Area El Sch?
64.2% of students at Punxsutawney Area El Sch are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Punxsutawney Area El Sch?
The largest demographic group at Punxsutawney Area El Sch is White at 95.2% of enrollment, in Punxutawney, PA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Punxsutawney Area El Sch?
Punxsutawney Area El Sch has a Resource Investment Index of 38/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Punxsutawney Area El Sch a good school?
Punxsutawney Area El Sch earns 38/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 76% of Pennsylvania schools. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Pennsylvania 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 Punxsutawney Area Sd?
Besides Punxsutawney Area El Sch, Punxsutawney Area Sd also operates Punxsutawney Area Hs (810 students). See the Punxsutawney Area Sd 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.