GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGH

GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGH is one of the big secondary schools in LAKELAND, Florida, one of the schools within POLK, with 2,469 students on its rolls from grades 9 through 12. That puts it 139% larger than the typical public school in Florida, which averages around 1,035 students.

Across the 163 schools in POLK (116,552 students total), GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGH accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGH reports that the most-represented group is White (46%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school lists 31% Hispanic, 17% Black, 4% multiracial, 3% Asian. By comparison, Polk County as a whole is about 56% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 115 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 21.5:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 23.5:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 47% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Polk County runs at roughly 65%, so the school's eligibility rate is below the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGH sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 57.6%; this one delivers 52.5%.

In the surrounding community, census data for Polk County shows median household income runs about $65,978, roughly 24% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Polk County runs 172 public schools (combined enrollment of about 117,004 students), of which GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGH is one.

The closest other public school is VALLEYVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, roughly 0.6 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGH comes 6th of 7 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 59.7%.

GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGH operates from a suburban location.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 6%: 2,338 students in 2018 compared to 2,469 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 22% to 31% across the same window.

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