Elementary school (grades K-5) · Lake Elsinore, CA

Rice Canyon Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Rice Canyon Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 25/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 060002710352
0/100100/10025/100
👥 S:T ratio
15
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
0
📋 Attendance
17
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Rice Canyon Elementary earns 25/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the California median.

#7 of 12
elementary schools in Lake Elsinore · Resource Index
25
Resource Index · Lower
21.3:1
students per teacher
54.3%
free-lunch eligible

Rice Canyon Elementary has class sizes near the California median. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Rice Canyon Elementary ranks #7 of 12 elementary schools in Lake Elsinore, CA.

Enrollment

596

California · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

28.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

21.3:1

vs 21.5:1 California avg

-1% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

54.3%

vs 55.5% California avg

-2% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Rice Canyon Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians

At or below state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Rice Canyon Elementary

Rice Canyon Elementary is a higher-need, mid-sized elementary school in Lake Elsinore, California, enrolling 596 students.

At 21.3:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the California median, within a few percentage points of the 21.5:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 54.3% lands close to the California typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

Enrollment of 596 puts it in the larger third of California schools by headcount.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 9,998 scored California schools.

Against 1,628 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #814.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (68%) and White (22%) (diversity index 49/100).

Counselor access is stretched at roughly 1987 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 33.2% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Among Lake Elsinore's elementary schools, it stands alongside Lakeland Village (909 students): Rice Canyon Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (21.3:1 vs 20.7:1).

Lake Elsinore Unified also operates Temescal Canyon High (2,373 students) and Elsinore High (1,927 students) alongside Rice Canyon Elementary.

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 Rice Canyon Elementary compares

Rice Canyon Elementary on the metrics families compare, against California and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs California California avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 21.3:1 ▼ 1% 21.5:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 54.3% ▼ 2% 55.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 596 top 33% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

21.3:1
Leaner classes than 12% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
596
Bigger than 72% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
54.3%
free-lunch eligible - 2% below the California average of 55.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
21.3:1
students per teacher - 1% below state mean
Top 46% in California - lower ratio than 54% of state schools
Above 20:1, running heavier than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is comparatively stretched.
Engagement
33.2%
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
$14,740
per pupil, district-wide - below California avg of $16,509
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.3 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 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

Hispanic or Latino 67.6%
White 21.6%
Asian 4.5%
Two or More 3.5%
African American 2.5%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.2%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 67.6% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 49.2/100

Simpson diversity index - at 49.2, Rice Canyon Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Lake Elsinore Unified, which includes Rice Canyon Elementary.

$14,740
Per student
-11%
vs California
Avg $16,509
-11%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 25.9%
State 61.4%
Federal 12.6%

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.

How Rice Canyon Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Temescal Canyon High Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Elsinore High Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Lakeside High Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
David a. Brown Middle Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Terra Cotta Middle Larger Higher economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Rice Canyon Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Lake Elsinore Unified · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar elementary schools in Lake Elsinore

6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.

Similar elementary schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of California, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Rice Canyon Elementary's federal record.

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 Rice Canyon Elementary

How many students attend Rice Canyon Elementary?

Rice Canyon Elementary has 596 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Lake Elsinore, CA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Rice Canyon Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Rice Canyon Elementary is 21.3:1, which is 1% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 36% higher 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 Rice Canyon Elementary?

54.3% of students at Rice Canyon Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Rice Canyon Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Rice Canyon Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 67.6% of enrollment, in Lake Elsinore, CA.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Rice Canyon Elementary?

Rice Canyon Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 25/100 (lower 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).

How does Rice Canyon Elementary rank among elementary schools in Lake Elsinore?

By Resource Investment Index, Rice Canyon Elementary ranks #7 of 12 elementary schools in Lake Elsinore, CA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Lake Elsinore on the city page.

Is Rice Canyon Elementary a good school?

Rice Canyon Elementary earns 25/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the California median. 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 Lake Elsinore Unified?

Besides Rice Canyon Elementary, Lake Elsinore Unified also operates Temescal Canyon High (2,373 students), Elsinore High (1,927 students), and Lakeside High (1,687 students). See the Lake Elsinore Unified district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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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.