Enrollment
20
North Dakota · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Sawyer, ND
Sawyer High School
Federal NCES profile for Sawyer High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 58/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 381647000570
👥 S:T ratio 80
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 96
📋 Attendance 25
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Sawyer High School earns 58/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 95% of North Dakota schools.
- 58
- Resource Index · Higher
- 5:1
- small classes for North Dakota
- 35.3%
- free-lunch eligible
- 20
- students enrolled
Sawyer High School has class sizes smaller than 95% of North Dakota schools. Computed live against every North Dakota school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Sawyer 16 · North Dakota
NCES ID 381647000570 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
4.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
5:1
vs 11.8:1 North Dakota avg
-58% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
35.3%
vs 28.2% North Dakota avg
+25% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Sawyer High School compares with North Dakota and U.S. medians
What stands out at Sawyer High School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Sawyer High School sits near the smaller end of the North Dakota enrollment distribution while also reporting a lower student-teacher ratio than most state schools. That pairing is consistent with a compact, teacher-dense setting, though small scale can limit the number of specialized courses or support roles a campus can sustain. The program and staffing sections below show whether the lean ratio extends beyond classroom teachers into broader student services.
Higher need paired with broader reported resources
Sawyer High School serves a higher-need student population than most North Dakota campuses while its Resource Investment Index still lands in the state's upper tier. That combination is more informative than either figure alone: reported staffing and program capacity are comparatively strong despite a funding context that often carries greater service demands. It does not prove equal outcomes, but it identifies a campus whose federal resource signals are not simply tracking a lower-need intake.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Sawyer High School's 30.0% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Sawyer High School is a small high school in Sawyer, North Dakota, enrolling 20 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 5:1, Sawyer High School is leaner than roughly 95% of North Dakota schools and 58% under the state's 11.8:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 35.3% of students eligible for free meals.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 94% of North Dakota schools, with 20 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 498 scored North Dakota schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (85% of enrollment) (diversity index 27/100).
No Advanced Placement courses are reported for this campus in the federal data.
Counselor coverage is strong, about 20 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 30.0% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding Sawyer 16 spends $31,789 per pupil, 72% above the North Dakota average, a better-resourced district than most.
Its district, Sawyer 16, also runs Sawyer Elementary School (74 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 Sawyer High School compares
Sawyer High School on the metrics families compare, against North Dakota and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs North Dakota | North Dakota avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 5:1 | ▼ 58% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 35.3% | ▲ 25% | 28.2% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 20 | top 94% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
5:1
Leaner classes than 98% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
20
Bigger than 3% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
35.3%
free-lunch eligible
- 25% above the North Dakota average of 28.2%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
5:1
students per teacher
- 58% below state mean
Top 5% in North Dakota - lower ratio than 95% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
30.0%
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
$31,789
per pupil, district-wide
- above North Dakota avg of $18,450
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 20 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.
Student demographics
White 85.0%
Hispanic or Latino 10.0%
Two or More 5.0%
Largest group: White at 85.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 26.5/100
Simpson diversity index - at 26.5, Sawyer High School is less mixed than the North Dakota school average of 29.7.
Programs
AP program Not offered
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Sawyer 16, which includes Sawyer High School.
$31,789
Per student
+72%
vs North Dakota
Avg $18,450
+92%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 37.8%
State 53.0%
Federal 9.2%
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 Sawyer High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawyer Elementary School | Larger | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Sawyer High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 74
- Students per teacher
- 6.2:1
- Resource Index
- 72/100
Similar high schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of North Dakota, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~20 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~5:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Sawyer High School's federal record.
- Compare Sawyer High School against another school. Compare schools
- Sawyer 16'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 Sawyer High School
How many students attend Sawyer High School?
Sawyer High School has 20 students enrolled. It is a high school in Sawyer, ND.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sawyer High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Sawyer High School is 5:1, which is 58% lower than the North Dakota average of 11.8:1 and 68% 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 Sawyer High School?
35.3% of students at Sawyer High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the North Dakota average of 28.2%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Sawyer High School?
The largest demographic group at Sawyer High School is White at 85.0% of enrollment, in Sawyer, ND.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Sawyer High School?
Sawyer High School has a Resource Investment Index of 58/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Sawyer 16?
Besides Sawyer High School, Sawyer 16 also operates Sawyer Elementary School (74 students). See the Sawyer 16 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 July 2026.