Elementary school (grades K-5) · Snelling, CA

Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 30/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 063696006281
0/100100/10030/100
👥 S:T ratio
45
🌟 Gifted program
30
📋 Attendance
14
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary earns 30/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 91% of California schools.

30
Resource Index · Lower
13.8:1
small classes for California
84.9%
free-lunch eligible
55
students enrolled

Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary has class sizes smaller than 91% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.

NCES CCD universe card

School universe 063696006281 · Snelling, CA Elementary · SMALL · TRAD

55 enr · 13.8:1 · 84.9% lunch · RII 30

Nearest enrollment peer: Aspire Academy Charter (100 students)

Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary CCD stamps from the federal school universe. NCES Common Core of Data stamps for this campus. Read with this school → · District book → · California schools → · Find another →

How Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary compares

Snelling-Merced Falls 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 13.8:1 ▼ 36% 21.5:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 84.9% ▲ 53% 55.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 55 top 93% - -

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

13.8:1
Leaner classes than 59% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
55
Bigger than 6% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
84.9%
free-lunch eligible - 53% above the California average of 55.5%
Well above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold, among the highest-need profiles in the state; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
13.8:1
students per teacher - 36% below state mean
Top 9% in California - lower ratio than 91% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
34.5%
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
$21,396
per pupil, district-wide - above California avg of $18,665
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
1
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.8 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Student demographics

Hispanic or Latino 52.7%
White 41.8%
Two or More 5.5%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 52.7% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 54.5/100

Simpson diversity index - at 54.5, Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Snelling-Merced Falls Union Elementary, which includes Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary.

$21,396
Per student
+15%
vs California
Avg $18,665
+21%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 47.0%
State 34.3%
Federal 18.7%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2022-23 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

Nationwide elementary schools with similar size or staffing

Out-of-state peers matched by enrollment and by student-teacher ratio, not the same-city or same-district lists above.

Frequently asked questions about Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary

How many students attend Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary?

Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary has 55 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Snelling, CA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary is 13.8:1, which is 36% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 12% 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 Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary?

84.9% of students at Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 52.7% of enrollment, in Snelling, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 54.5/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary?

Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 30/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

What other schools are in Snelling-Merced Falls Union Elementary?

None reported; Snelling-Merced Falls Union Elementary operates only Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary as a public school district in NCES's records.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2022-23) · 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.

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, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.