Enrollment
1,181
Florida · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Other / mixed grade configuration NCES 120135008440
Wildlight Elementary — Yulee, FL
Federal NCES profile for Wildlight Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 43/100.
👥 Class size 35
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 68
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 →
The verdict
Wildlight Elementary earns a D Resource Investment Index (43/100), with class sizes near the Florida median.
- D
- Resource Index · 43/100
- 16.3:1
- students per teacher
- 28.0%
- free-lunch eligible
- 1,181
- students enrolled
School address
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)
63.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
16.3:1
vs 18.3:1 Florida avg
-11% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
28.0%
vs 52.0% Florida avg
-46% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Wildlight Elementary compares with Florida 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
Wildlight Elementary reports 1,181 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 63.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 16.3:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 11% below the Florida state mean of 18.3:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.7:1, it is 4% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 28.0% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 46% below the Florida average and 46% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 591 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 13.0% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Nassau spends $9,766 per pupil district-wide, below the Florida average of $11,167 and below the national average of $16,593. Revenue comes 55.3% from local sources (property taxes), 29.6% from the state, and 15.0% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 43/100 (D), 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 Wildlight Elementary compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Florida state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Florida | Florida avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 16.3:1 | ▼ 11% | 18.3:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 28.0% | ▼ 46% | 52.0% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 1,181 | top 87% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
Class size vs. every US school
Students per teacher (lower means more individual attention)
16 smaller classes than 36% of 92,598 US schools
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US schools. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education — NCES Common Core of Data · 2024-25
School size vs. every US school
Total enrollment — where this school sits by size (neither large nor small is 'better')
1,181 larger than 94% of 95,891 US schools
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US schools. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education — NCES Common Core of Data · 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
28.0%
free-lunch eligible
— 46% below the Florida average of 52.0%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
16.3:1
students per teacher
— 11% below state mean
Top 44% in Florida — lower ratio than 56% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
13.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Between 10–20% — above the pre-pandemic baseline of ~15% nationally but within the current U.S. range.
Funding equity
$9,766
per pupil, district-wide
— below Florida avg of $11,167
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 591 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
16
in-school suspensions + 17 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.4 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.8 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 1,181 Top 87% in Florida — larger than 13% of 4,029 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 63.0
Students per teacher 16.3:1 -11% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 28.0% -46% vs state
NCES ID 120135008440
Student demographics
White 64.5%
Hispanic or Latino 13.2%
African American 11.2%
Two or More 9.8%
Asian 1.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%
Largest group: White at 64.5% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 2.0
Students per counselor 591:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 13.0%
In-school suspensions 16
Out-of-school suspensions 17
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Nassau, which includes Wildlight Elementary.
$9,766
Per student
-13%
vs Florida
Avg $11,167
-41%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 55.3%
State 29.6%
Federal 15.0%
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
- 1,486
- Students per teacher
- 19.8:1
- Enrollment
- 1,174
- Students per teacher
- 19.4:1
- Enrollment
- 978
- Students per teacher
- 19.3:1
- Enrollment
- 923
- Students per teacher
- 21.2:1
- Enrollment
- 773
- Students per teacher
- 19:1
Similar other schools in Yulee
1 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
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 Wildlight Elementary
How many students attend Wildlight Elementary?
Wildlight Elementary has 1,181 students enrolled. It is a other school in YULEE, FL.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Wildlight Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Wildlight Elementary is 16.3:1, which is 11% lower than the Florida average of 18.3:1 and 4% higher 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 Wildlight Elementary?
28.0% of students at Wildlight Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Florida average of 52.0%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Wildlight Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Wildlight Elementary is White at 64.5%. The school serves a diverse student body in YULEE, FL.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Wildlight Elementary?
Wildlight Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 43/100 (D) 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.
Is Wildlight Elementary a good school?
Wildlight Elementary earns a D Resource Investment Index (43/100), with class sizes near the Florida median. The Resource Investment Index reflects staffing, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance reported to NCES, not test scores or academic outcomes, so treat it as a resource snapshot rather than an overall rating.