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Alumni: what's one memory from BELLA CITTA that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,459
Elementary
DISTRICT 641 · STATE 604
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·POLK·NCES 120159008951
BELLA CITTA
1915 S FLORAL AVE, BARTOW, FL 33830 · (863) 519-7600 · Polk County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY23-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,459 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
24.3:1
60 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.3:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
55%
801 students
DISTRICT 65% · STATE 50%
Community
3
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
FAST / B.E.S.T. 2024-25 . % at Level 3 or AboveEnglish Language Arts
42.7%
FL avg 56.7% . +2.6pp since 2023
Math
41.6%
FL avg 58.9% . +5.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 43 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 42 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Florida schools, those numbers are about 57 and 59. Reading and writing scores are up about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
Source: FAST / B.E.S.T.. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
40.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
53.7%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 54% typical for Florida schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Florida's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
About BELLA CITTA
BELLA CITTA is one of the expansive elementary schools in BARTOW, Florida, overseen by POLK, with 1,459 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 8. Compared to the state average of about 604 students per school, that is 142% larger than typical.
POLK comprises 163 schools with combined enrollment of 116,552 students; BELLA CITTA is among them.
For racial and ethnic makeup, BELLA CITTA lists that 62% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Beyond that, the school reports 20% Black, 15% White. The wider county runs roughly 29% Hispanic, putting the school's mix visibly more Hispanic than the area baseline.
Looking at school resources, On paper, BELLA CITTA has 60 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 24.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.5:1, putting BELLA CITTA higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 55% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Polk County runs at roughly 65%, so the school's eligibility rate is lower than the surrounding baseline.
On a demographically-adjusted basis, BELLA CITTA sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 53.7%; this one delivers 40.1%.
Around the school, the surrounding county (Polk County) reports that median household earnings sit near $65,978, roughly 24% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Across Polk County's 172 public schools (combined enrollment of about 117,004 students), BELLA CITTA is one campus in the mix.
FOUR CORNERS UPPER SCHOOL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, BELLA CITTA comes 7th of 9 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 47.9%.
The campus sits in a bedroom-community setting.
On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Polk County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
790,694
Census ACS
Median income
$65,978
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
24%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
172
117,004 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in POLK
- HAINES CITY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,105 students
- DAVENPORT HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,731 students
- WINTER HAVEN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,648 students
- RIDGE COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,632 students
- GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGHHigh · 2,469 students
- BARTOW SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,276 students
Other schools in BARTOW
- BARTOW SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,276 students
- BARTOW MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 881 students
- SPESSARD L HOLLAND ELEMENTARYElementary · 843 students
- FLORAL AVENUE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 585 students
- BARTOW ELEMENTARY ACADEMYElementary · 524 students
- UNION ACADEMYMiddle · 382 students
Nearby schools
- FOUR CORNERS UPPER SCHOOL0.3 mi · 1,401
- FOUR CORNERS CHARTER SCHOOL1.5 mi · 1,103
- RIDGEVIEW GLOBAL STUDIES ACADEMY2.1 mi · 1,581
- ACADEMIR PREPARATORY OF CHAMPIONSGATE2.2 mi · 366
- CITRUS RIDGE A CIVICS ACADEMY2.4 mi · 1,108
- WESTSIDE K-8 SCHOOL3.1 mi · 1,496
Frequently asked questions
About BELLA CITTAHow many students attend BELLA CITTA?
BELLA CITTA enrolls approximately 1,459 students in grades PK-08.
Is BELLA CITTA an elementary, middle, or high school?
BELLA CITTA is an elementary school covering grades PK-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at BELLA CITTA?
The student-to-teacher ratio at BELLA CITTA is approximately 24.3:1 (60 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at BELLA CITTA?
At BELLA CITTA, the student body is approximately 15% White, 62% Hispanic, 20% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees BELLA CITTA?
BELLA CITTA is overseen by POLK in Polk County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.