Enrollment
203
Utah · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 490005001151 Charter school
Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts — Salt Lake City, UT
Federal NCES profile for Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 43/100.
👥 Class size 26
📚 AP courses 80
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 59
📋 Attendance 21
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: Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts · Utah
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)
11.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
18.5:1
vs 23.1:1 Utah avg
-20% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
11.3%
vs 28.0% Utah avg
-60% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts compares with Utah 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
Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts reports 203 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 11.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 18.5:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 20% below the Utah state mean of 23.1:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 16% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 11.3% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 60% below the Utah average and 78% below the national baseline. The school offers 16 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 203 students per counselor, meeting the American School Counselor Association recommendation of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 31.5% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts spends $13,471 per pupil district-wide, above the Utah average of $12,354 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 15.9% from local sources (property taxes), 80.4% from the state, and 3.8% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 43/100 (D), 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 Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Utah state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Utah | Utah avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 18.5:1 | ▼ 20% | 23.1:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 11.3% | ▼ 60% | 28.0% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 203 | top 15% | — | — |
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
11.3%
free-lunch eligible
— 60% below the Utah average of 28.0%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
18.5:1
students per teacher
— 20% below state mean
Top 22% in Utah — lower ratio than 78% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
31.5%
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
$13,471
per pupil, district-wide
— above Utah avg of $12,354
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 203 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
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
Enrollment 203 Top 15% in Utah — larger than 85% of 1,068 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 11.0
Students per teacher 18.5:1 -20% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 11.3% -60% vs state
NCES ID 490005001151
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 16
Counselors (FTE) 1.0
Students per counselor 203:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 31.5%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 0
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts, which includes Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts.
$13,471
Per student
+9%
vs Utah
Avg $12,354
-31%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 15.9%
State 80.4%
Federal 3.8%
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.
Similar high schools in Salt Lake City
6 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.
Olympus High
Standard public school
2,151 students 24.4:1 students per teacher
Highland High
Standard public school
1,973 students 23.9:1 students per teacher
East High
Standard public school
1,764 students 22.2:1 students per teacher
Cottonwood High
Standard public school
1,451 students 23.7:1 students per teacher
Academy for Math Engineering & Science
Standard public school
460 students 19.7:1 students per teacher
Innovations High School
Standard public school
157 students 32.6:1 students per teacher
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 Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts
How many students attend Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts?
Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts has 203 students enrolled. It is a high school in SALT LAKE CITY, UT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts?
The student-teacher ratio at Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts is 18.5:1, which is 20% lower than the Utah average of 23.1:1 and 16% 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 Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts?
11.3% of students at Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Utah average of 28.0%.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts?
Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts has a Resource Investment Index of 43/100 (D) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.