Enrollment
172
New Hampshire · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Thornton, NH
Thornton Central School
Federal NCES profile for Thornton Central School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 44/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 330666000433
👥 S:T ratio 70
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 66
📋 Attendance 11
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Thornton Central School earns 44/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 92% of New Hampshire schools.
- 44
- Resource Index · Typical
- 7.5:1
- small classes for New Hampshire
- 20.5%
- free-lunch eligible
- 172
- students enrolled
Thornton Central School has class sizes smaller than 92% of New Hampshire schools. Computed live against every New Hampshire school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Thornton School District · New Hampshire
NCES ID 330666000433 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
23.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
7.5:1
vs 11.3:1 New Hampshire avg
-34% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
20.5%
vs 21.5% New Hampshire avg
-5% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Thornton Central School compares with New Hampshire and U.S. medians
What stands out at Thornton Central School
Thornton Central School is a mid-sized elementary school in Thornton, New Hampshire, enrolling 172 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 7.5:1, Thornton Central School is leaner than roughly 92% of New Hampshire schools and 34% under the state's 11.3:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 20.5% lands close to the New Hampshire typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
Enrollment of 172 puts it in the smaller third of New Hampshire schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 500 scored New Hampshire schools.
Against 85 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #35.
Its student body is predominantly White (91% of enrollment) (diversity index 16/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 172 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 35.5% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Thornton School District operates only this one school, so Thornton Central School has no district-mates to compare against locally.
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 Thornton Central School compares
Thornton Central School on the metrics families compare, against New Hampshire and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs New Hampshire | New Hampshire avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 7.5:1 | ▼ 34% | 11.3:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 20.5% | ▼ 5% | 21.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 172 | top 67% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
7.5:1
Leaner classes than 96% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
172
Bigger than 17% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
20.5%
free-lunch eligible
- 5% below the New Hampshire average of 21.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
7.5:1
students per teacher
- 34% below state mean
Top 8% in New Hampshire - lower ratio than 92% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
35.5%
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
$26,249
per pupil, district-wide
- below New Hampshire avg of $28,358
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 172 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
- 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
White 91.3%
Hispanic or Latino 3.5%
Two or More 2.9%
African American 1.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native 1.2%
Largest group: White at 91.3% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 16.4/100
Simpson diversity index - at 16.4, Thornton Central School is less mixed than the New Hampshire school average of 24.3.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Thornton School District, which includes Thornton Central School.
$26,249
Per student
-7%
vs New Hampshire
Avg $28,358
+58%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 72.4%
State 21.1%
Federal 6.5%
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 elementary schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of New Hampshire, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~172 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Thornton Central School's federal record.
- Compare Thornton Central School against another school. Compare schools
- Thornton School District'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 Thornton Central School
How many students attend Thornton Central School?
Thornton Central School has 172 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Thornton, NH.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Thornton Central School?
The student-teacher ratio at Thornton Central School is 7.5:1, which is 34% lower than the New Hampshire average of 11.3:1 and 52% 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 Thornton Central School?
20.5% of students at Thornton Central School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the New Hampshire average of 21.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Thornton Central School?
The largest demographic group at Thornton Central School is White at 91.3% of enrollment, in Thornton, NH.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Thornton Central School?
Thornton Central School has a Resource Investment Index of 44/100 (typical 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).
Is Thornton Central School a good school?
Thornton Central School earns 44/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 92% of New Hampshire 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 Thornton School District?
None reported; Thornton School District operates only Thornton Central School as a public school district in NCES's records.
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 June 2026.