Enrollment
1,082
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 060453000419
Ralston Intermediate — Belmont, CA
Federal NCES profile for Ralston Intermediate, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 18/100.
👥 Class size 14
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 28
📋 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: Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary · 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)
52.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
21.5:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-0% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
3.9%
vs 55.5% California avg
-93% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Ralston Intermediate 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
Ralston Intermediate reports 1,082 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 52.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 21.5:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 0% 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 35% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 3.9% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 93% below the California average and 92% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 361 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 88.9% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary spends $15,126 per pupil district-wide, below the California average of $18,039 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 26.2% from local sources (property taxes), 69.2% from the state, and 4.6% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 18/100 (F), calculated from 4 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 Ralston Intermediate 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 | 21.5:1 | ▼ 0% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 3.9% | ▼ 93% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 1,082 | top 90% | — | — |
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
3.9%
free-lunch eligible
— 93% below the California average of 55.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
21.5:1
students per teacher
— 0% below state mean
Top 44% in California — lower ratio than 56% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
88.9%
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
$15,126
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
Counselors3.0 FTE
Per 361 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
38
in-school suspensions + 26 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 3.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 5.9 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 1,082 Top 90% in California — larger than 10% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 52.0
Students per teacher 21.5:1 -0% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 3.9% -93% vs state
NCES ID 060453000419
Student demographics
Asian 39.3%
White 32.2%
Two or More 16.6%
Hispanic or Latino 11.1%
African American 0.5%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.1%
Largest group: Asian at 39.3% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 3.0
Students per counselor 361:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 88.9%
In-school suspensions 38
Out-of-school suspensions 26
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary, which includes Ralston Intermediate.
$15,126
Per student
-16%
vs California
Avg $18,039
-22%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 26.2%
State 69.2%
Federal 4.6%
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
- 566
- Students per teacher
- 21:1
- Enrollment
- 534
- Students per teacher
- 24:1
- Enrollment
- 471
- Students per teacher
- 26.2:1
- Enrollment
- 437
- Students per teacher
- 25.7:1
- Enrollment
- 420
- Students per teacher
- 25.4:1
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 Ralston Intermediate
How many students attend Ralston Intermediate?
Ralston Intermediate has 1,082 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Belmont, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Ralston Intermediate?
The student-teacher ratio at Ralston Intermediate is 21.5:1, which is 0% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 35% 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 Ralston Intermediate?
3.9% of students at Ralston Intermediate are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Ralston Intermediate?
The largest demographic group at Ralston Intermediate is Asian at 39.3%. The school serves a diverse student body in Belmont, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Ralston Intermediate?
Ralston Intermediate has a Resource Investment Index of 18/100 (F) based on 4 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.