Enrollment
636
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Lancaster, CA
Federal NCES profile for Tierra Bonita Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 9/100.
The verdict
Tierra Bonita Elementary earns 9/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the California median.
Tierra Bonita Elementary has class sizes near the California median. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Tierra Bonita Elementary ranks #27 of 28 elementary schools in Lancaster, CA.
NCES ID 061191007108 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Enrollment
636
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Teachers (FTE)
27.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
23.6:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
+10% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
77.6%
vs 55.5% California avg
+40% vs state
How Tierra Bonita Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians
Slightly above state median
23.6:1 - 2.1 above the California state median of 21.5:1, indicating larger average class loads than typical schools in the state.
Tierra Bonita Elementary is a high-poverty, mid-sized elementary school in Lancaster, California, enrolling 636 students.
Class loads run somewhat heavier than typical: 23.6:1 puts it in the larger third of California schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 77.6% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 636 puts it in the larger third of California schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index trails 99% of the 9,998 California schools with a score on record, one of the lower results on this measure.
Among 2,082 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need California schools statewide, it ranks #1,990, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (70%) and African American (21%) (diversity index 46/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 636 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 55.7% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 17.5% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Among Lancaster's elementary schools, it stands alongside Sundown Elementary (941 students): Tierra Bonita Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (23.6:1 vs 29.4:1).
Eastside Union Elementary also operates Gifford C. Cole Middle (697 students) and Enterprise Elementary (646 students) alongside Tierra Bonita 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
Tierra Bonita 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 | 23.6:1 | ▲ 10% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 77.6% | ▲ 40% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 636 | top 29% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
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.
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 70.1% of enrollment.
Simpson diversity index - at 46.1, Tierra Bonita Elementary is about as mixed as the California school average of 46.0.
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Eastside Union Elementary, which includes Tierra Bonita Elementary.
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.
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gifford C. Cole Middle | Similar size | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| Enterprise Elementary | Similar size | Similar economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| Columbia Elementary | Similar size | Similar economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Eastside Elementary | Smaller | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Eastside Academy/Transitional Learning Center | Smaller | No free-lunch data | No ratio data |
Comparisons are relative to Tierra Bonita Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.
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 Tierra Bonita 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.
Tierra Bonita Elementary has 636 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Lancaster, CA.
The student-teacher ratio at Tierra Bonita Elementary is 23.6:1, which is 10% higher than the California average of 21.5:1 and 50% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.
77.6% of students at Tierra Bonita Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
The largest demographic group at Tierra Bonita Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 70.1% of enrollment, in Lancaster, CA.
Tierra Bonita Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 9/100 (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).
By Resource Investment Index, Tierra Bonita Elementary ranks #27 of 28 elementary schools in Lancaster, 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 Lancaster on the city page.
Tierra Bonita Elementary earns 9/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the California median. 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.
Besides Tierra Bonita Elementary, Eastside Union Elementary also operates Gifford C. Cole Middle (697 students), Enterprise Elementary (646 students), and Columbia Elementary (620 students). See the Eastside Union Elementary district page for the complete list.
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.
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PlainSchools, “Tierra Bonita Elementary, Lancaster CA.” Compiled from NCES Common Core of Data, Civil Rights Data Collection, and the NCES F-33 finance survey; data as of June 2026. https://plainschools.com/schools/tierra-bonita-elementary-ca
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