Enrollment
65
California · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Gaviota, CA
Vista De Las Cruces
Federal NCES profile for Vista De Las Cruces, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 60/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 064122006826
👥 S:T ratio 57
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 92
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Vista De Las Cruces earns 60/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 95% of California schools.
- 60
- Resource Index · Higher
- 10.8:1
- small classes for California
- 33.3%
- free-lunch eligible
- 65
- students enrolled
Vista De Las Cruces has class sizes smaller than 95% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Vista Del Mar Union · California
NCES ID 064122006826 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
6.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
10.8:1
vs 21.5:1 California avg
-50% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
33.3%
vs 55.5% California avg
-40% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Vista De Las Cruces compares with California and U.S. medians
What stands out at Vista De Las Cruces
Vista De Las Cruces is a small elementary school in Gaviota, California, enrolling 65 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 10.8:1, Vista De Las Cruces is leaner than roughly 95% of California schools and 50% under the state's 21.5:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 33.3% of students eligible for free meals.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 93% of California schools, with 65 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index outscores 97% of the 9,998 California schools with a score on record, a top-tier result on this measure.
Among 120 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need California schools statewide, it ranks #12, a top-tier result once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by White (54%) and Hispanic or Latino (34%) (diversity index 58/100).
Attendance holds up well here: only 3.1% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.
The surrounding Vista Del Mar Union spends $60,750 per pupil, 268% above the California average, a better-resourced district than most.
Its district draws 20.1% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Vista Del Mar Union operates only this one school, so Vista De Las Cruces has no district-mates to compare against locally. At 65 students, it is also a small operation, on the smaller end of California's single-school districts.
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 Vista De Las Cruces compares
Vista De Las Cruces on the metrics families compare, against California and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs California | California avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 10.8:1 | ▼ 50% | 21.5:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 33.3% | ▼ 40% | 55.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 65 | top 93% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
10.8:1
Leaner classes than 84% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
65
Bigger than 7% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
33.3%
free-lunch eligible
- 40% below the California average of 55.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
10.8:1
students per teacher
- 50% below state mean
Top 5% in California - lower ratio than 95% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
3.1%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Below 5%, comfortably under the pre-pandemic national baseline for chronic absenteeism.
Funding equity
$60,750
per pupil, district-wide
- above California avg of $16,509
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
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 53.8%
Hispanic or Latino 33.8%
Two or More 12.3%
Largest group: White at 53.8% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 58.1/100
Simpson diversity index - at 58.1, Vista De Las Cruces is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Vista Del Mar Union, which includes Vista De Las Cruces.
$60,750
Per student
+268%
vs California
Avg $16,509
+266%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 52.1%
State 27.8%
Federal 20.1%
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 California, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~65 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~10.8:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Vista De Las Cruces's federal record.
- Compare Vista De Las Cruces against another school. Compare schools
- Vista Del Mar Union'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 Vista De Las Cruces
How many students attend Vista De Las Cruces?
Vista De Las Cruces has 65 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Gaviota, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Vista De Las Cruces?
The student-teacher ratio at Vista De Las Cruces is 10.8:1, which is 50% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 31% 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 Vista De Las Cruces?
33.3% of students at Vista De Las Cruces are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Vista De Las Cruces?
The largest demographic group at Vista De Las Cruces is White at 53.8% of enrollment, in Gaviota, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 58.1/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Vista De Las Cruces?
Vista De Las Cruces has a Resource Investment Index of 60/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Vista De Las Cruces a good school?
Vista De Las Cruces earns 60/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 95% 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 Vista Del Mar Union?
None reported; Vista Del Mar Union operates only Vista De Las Cruces 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.