Enrollment
532
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 064119006819
Rancho Minerva Middle — Vista, CA
Federal NCES profile for Rancho Minerva Middle, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 28/100.
👥 Class size 34
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 47
📋 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: Vista 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)
32.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
16.6:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-23% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
74.6%
vs 55.5% California avg
+34% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Rancho Minerva Middle 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
Rancho Minerva Middle reports 532 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 32.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 16.6:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 23% 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 4% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 74.6% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 34% above the California average and 44% above the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 266 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 59.4% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Vista Unified spends $17,357 per pupil district-wide, below the California average of $18,039 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 36.1% from local sources (property taxes), 53.6% from the state, and 10.3% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 28/100 (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 Rancho Minerva Middle 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 | 16.6:1 | ▼ 23% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 74.6% | ▲ 34% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 532 | top 59% | — | — |
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
74.6%
free-lunch eligible
— 34% 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
16.6:1
students per teacher
— 23% below state mean
Top 12% in California — lower ratio than 88% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
59.4%
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
$17,357
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
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 266 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
70
in-school suspensions + 172 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 13.2 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 45.5 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 532 Top 59% in California — larger than 41% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 32.0
Students per teacher 16.6:1 -23% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 74.6% +34% vs state
NCES ID 064119006819
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 2.0
Students per counselor 266:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 59.4%
In-school suspensions 70
Out-of-school suspensions 172
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Vista Unified, which includes Rancho Minerva Middle.
$17,357
Per student
-4%
vs California
Avg $18,039
-11%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 36.1%
State 53.6%
Federal 10.3%
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.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,949
- Students per teacher
- 21.1:1
- Enrollment
- 1,746
- Students per teacher
- 19.3:1
- Enrollment
- 1,670
- Students per teacher
- 23.1:1
- Enrollment
- 1,158
- Students per teacher
- 19.9:1
- Enrollment
- 866
- Students per teacher
- 20.5:1
Similar middle schools in Vista
2 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) 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 Rancho Minerva Middle
How many students attend Rancho Minerva Middle?
Rancho Minerva Middle has 532 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Vista, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Rancho Minerva Middle?
The student-teacher ratio at Rancho Minerva Middle is 16.6:1, which is 23% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 4% 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 Rancho Minerva Middle?
74.6% of students at Rancho Minerva Middle are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Rancho Minerva Middle?
Rancho Minerva Middle has a Resource Investment Index of 28/100 (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.