Enrollment
547
Arizona · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 040553000456
Wade Carpenter Middle School — Nogales, AZ
Federal NCES profile for Wade Carpenter Middle School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 22/100.
👥 Class size 11
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 45
📋 Attendance 0
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
District: Nogales Unified District (4457) · Arizona
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
26.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
22.2:1
vs 17.7:1 Arizona avg
+25% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
87.8%
vs 48.3% Arizona avg
+82% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Wade Carpenter Middle School compares with Arizona and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Wade Carpenter Middle School reports 547 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 26.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 22.2:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 25% above the Arizona state mean of 17.7:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 40% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 87.8% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 82% above the Arizona average and 69% above the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 274 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 53.7% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Nogales Unified District (4457) spends $10,385 per pupil district-wide, below the Arizona average of $15,070 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 15.7% from local sources (property taxes), 56.8% from the state, and 27.5% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 22/100 (F), calculated from 4 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Wade Carpenter Middle School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Arizona state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Arizona | Arizona avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 22.2:1 | ▲ 25% | 17.7:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 87.8% | ▲ 82% | 48.3% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 547 | top 66% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
87.8%
free-lunch eligible
— 82% above the Arizona average of 48.3%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
22.2:1
students per teacher
— 25% above state mean
Top 86% in Arizona — lower ratio than 14% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
53.7%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$10,385
per pupil, district-wide
— below Arizona avg of $15,070
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 274 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
10
in-school suspensions + 48 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 10.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 547 Top 66% in Arizona — larger than 34% of 2,186 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 26.0
Students per teacher 22.2:1 +25% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 87.8% +82% vs state
NCES ID 040553000456
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 99.8%
Asian 0.2%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 99.8% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 2.0
Students per counselor 274:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 53.7%
In-school suspensions 10
Out-of-school suspensions 48
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Nogales Unified District (4457), which includes Wade Carpenter Middle School.
$10,385
Per student
-31%
vs Arizona
Avg $15,070
-47%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 15.7%
State 56.8%
Federal 27.5%
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.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,774
- Students per teacher
- 23.6:1
- Enrollment
- 784
- Students per teacher
- 21.7:1
- Enrollment
- 508
- Students per teacher
- 21.5:1
- Enrollment
- 421
- Students per teacher
- 19.9:1
- Enrollment
- 381
- Students per teacher
- 19.2:1
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Wade Carpenter Middle School
How many students attend Wade Carpenter Middle School?
Wade Carpenter Middle School has 547 students enrolled. It is a middle school in NOGALES, AZ.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Wade Carpenter Middle School?
The student-teacher ratio at Wade Carpenter Middle School is 22.2:1, which is 25% higher than the Arizona average of 17.7:1 and 40% higher than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Wade Carpenter Middle School?
87.8% of students at Wade Carpenter Middle School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Arizona average of 48.3%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Wade Carpenter Middle School?
The largest demographic group at Wade Carpenter Middle School is Hispanic or Latino at 99.8%. The school serves a student body in NOGALES, AZ.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Wade Carpenter Middle School?
Wade Carpenter Middle School has a Resource Investment Index of 22/100 (F) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.