Elementary school (grades K-5) · San Mateo, CA

Sunnybrae Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Sunnybrae Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 22/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 063492005917
0/100100/10022/100
👥 S:T ratio
27
🌟 Gifted program
30
🎓 Counselors
31
📋 Attendance
2
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Sunnybrae Elementary earns 22/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 78% of California schools.

#11 of 14
elementary schools in San Mateo · Resource Index
22
Resource Index · Lower
18.2:1
small classes for California
54.9%
free-lunch eligible

Sunnybrae Elementary has class sizes smaller than 78% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Sunnybrae Elementary ranks #11 of 14 elementary schools in San Mateo, CA.

Enrollment

346

California · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

19.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

18.2:1

vs 21.5:1 California avg

-15% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

54.9%

vs 55.5% California avg

-1% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Sunnybrae Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than 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 Sunnybrae Elementary

Sunnybrae Elementary is a higher-need, mid-sized elementary school in San Mateo, California, enrolling 346 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 18.2:1 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by student-teacher ratio.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 54.9% lands close to the California typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

Enrollment of 346 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by headcount.

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

Against 1,202 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #827.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (76%) and Asian (8%) (diversity index 41/100).

Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 346 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 39.3% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Among San Mateo's elementary schools, it stands alongside Bayside Academy (840 students): Sunnybrae Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (18.2:1 vs 19.1:1).

San Mateo-Foster City also operates Bowditch Middle (929 students) and Borel Middle (903 students) alongside Sunnybrae 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 Sunnybrae Elementary compares

Sunnybrae 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 18.2:1 ▼ 15% 21.5:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 54.9% ▼ 1% 55.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 346 top 68% - -

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

18.2:1
Leaner classes than 23% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
346
Bigger than 39% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
54.9%
free-lunch eligible - 1% 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
18.2:1
students per teacher - 15% below state mean
Top 22% in California - lower ratio than 78% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
39.3%
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
$17,395
per pupil, district-wide - above California avg of $16,509
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 346 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.3 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 75.7%
Asian 7.5%
Two or More 6.9%
White 6.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 3.2%
African American 0.6%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 75.7% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 41.2/100

Simpson diversity index - at 41.2, Sunnybrae Elementary is less mixed than the California school average of 46.0.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for San Mateo-Foster City, which includes Sunnybrae Elementary.

$17,395
Per student
+5%
vs California
Avg $16,509
+5%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 79.9%
State 14.6%
Federal 5.4%

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 Sunnybrae Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Bowditch Middle Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Borel Middle Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Bayside Academy Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Abbott Middle Larger Lower economic need Lower S:T ratio
Foster City Elementary Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio

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

Other Schools in This District

San Mateo-Foster City · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar elementary schools in San Mateo

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 Sunnybrae 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 Sunnybrae Elementary

How many students attend Sunnybrae Elementary?

Sunnybrae Elementary has 346 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in San Mateo, CA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Sunnybrae Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Sunnybrae Elementary is 18.2:1, which is 15% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 16% 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 Sunnybrae Elementary?

54.9% of students at Sunnybrae Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Sunnybrae Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Sunnybrae Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 75.7% of enrollment, in San Mateo, CA.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Sunnybrae Elementary?

Sunnybrae Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 22/100 (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 Sunnybrae Elementary rank among elementary schools in San Mateo?

By Resource Investment Index, Sunnybrae Elementary ranks #11 of 14 elementary schools in San Mateo, 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 San Mateo on the city page.

Is Sunnybrae Elementary a good school?

Sunnybrae Elementary earns 22/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 78% of California schools. 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 San Mateo-Foster City?

Besides Sunnybrae Elementary, San Mateo-Foster City also operates Bowditch Middle (929 students), Borel Middle (903 students), and Bayside Academy (840 students). See the San Mateo-Foster City 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.

View saved

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.