Elementary school (grades K-5) · Los Banos, CA

Volta Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Volta Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 17/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 062274003485
0/100100/10017/100
👥 S:T ratio
14
🌟 Gifted program
30
🎓 Counselors
23
📋 Attendance
0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Volta Elementary earns 17/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the California median.

#2 of 10
elementary schools in Los Banos · Resource Index
17
Resource Index · Lower
21.5:1
students per teacher
56.7%
free-lunch eligible

Volta Elementary has class sizes near the California median. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Volta Elementary ranks #2 of 10 elementary schools in Los Banos, CA.

School address

Enrollment

387

California · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

18.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

21.5:1

vs 21.5:1 California avg

+0% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

56.7%

vs 55.5% California avg

+2% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

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

At or below 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 Volta Elementary

Volta Elementary is a higher-need, mid-sized elementary school in Los Banos, California, enrolling 387 students.

At 21.5:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the California median, within a few percentage points of the 21.5:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 56.7% lands close to the California typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

With 387 students, its enrollment sits close to the California median campus size.

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

Among 1,447 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need California schools statewide, it ranks #1,150, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.

Its student body is predominantly Hispanic or Latino (86% of enrollment) (diversity index 25/100).

Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 387 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 71.6% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Among Los Banos's elementary schools, it stands alongside Grasslands Elementary (884 students): Volta Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (21.5:1 vs 30.5:1).

Los Banos Unified also operates Pacheco High (1,725 students) and Los Banos High (1,543 students) alongside Volta 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 Volta Elementary compares

Volta 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 21.5:1 ▼ 0% 21.5:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 56.7% ▲ 2% 55.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 387 top 62% - -

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

21.5:1
Leaner classes than 12% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
387
Bigger than 45% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
56.7%
free-lunch eligible - 2% above the California average of 55.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
21.5:1
students per teacher - 0% above state mean
Top 48% in California - lower ratio than 52% of state schools
Above 20:1, running heavier than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is comparatively stretched.
Engagement
71.6%
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
$15,682
per pupil, district-wide - below California avg of $16,509
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 387 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 7 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.8 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 86.0%
White 9.0%
Asian 3.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.8%
African American 0.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%
Two or More 0.3%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 86.0% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 25.1/100

Simpson diversity index - at 25.1, Volta Elementary is less mixed than the California school average of 46.0.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Los Banos Unified, which includes Volta Elementary.

$15,682
Per student
-5%
vs California
Avg $16,509
-5%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 17.4%
State 67.9%
Federal 14.7%

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 Volta Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Pacheco High Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Los Banos High Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Los Banos Junior High Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Grasslands Elementary Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Creekside Junior High Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio

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

Other Schools in This District

Los Banos Unified · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar elementary schools in Los Banos

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 Volta 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 Volta Elementary

How many students attend Volta Elementary?

Volta Elementary has 387 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Los Banos, CA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Volta Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Volta Elementary is 21.5:1, which is 0% higher than the California average of 21.5:1 and 37% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Volta Elementary?

56.7% of students at Volta Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Volta Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Volta Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 86.0% of enrollment, in Los Banos, CA.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Volta Elementary?

Volta Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 17/100 (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 Volta Elementary rank among elementary schools in Los Banos?

By Resource Investment Index, Volta Elementary ranks #2 of 10 elementary schools in Los Banos, 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 Los Banos on the city page.

Is Volta Elementary a good school?

Volta Elementary earns 17/100 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.

What other schools are in Los Banos Unified?

Besides Volta Elementary, Los Banos Unified also operates Pacheco High (1,725 students), Los Banos High (1,543 students), and Los Banos Junior High (938 students). See the Los Banos Unified 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.

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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.