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What's something DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
684
Middle
DISTRICT 741 · STATE 794
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·POLK·NCES 120159001727
DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL
400 AVENUE A SE, WINTER HAVEN, FL 33880 · (863) 291-5353 · Polk County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL684 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 7% of Florida public middle schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Florida public middle schools
Student : Teacher
24.4:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.9:1 · STATE 19.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
75%
516 students
DISTRICT 65% · STATE 50%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 188 | 27% |
| Grade 7 | 230 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 266 | 39% |
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 67% · STATE 70% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). 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
34.5%
FL avg 56.7% . +9.2pp since 2023
Math
35.2%
FL avg 58.9% . +5.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 35 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 35 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 9 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
FAST / B.E.S.T. results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 34.5% | 35.2% |
| 2023-24 | 25.4% | 29.6% |
% at Level 3 or Above, all students and all tested grades.
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
32.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
43.4%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 32% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 43% 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 →
Schools most like DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL
DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL's state test result (32.4% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL this school | 684 | 75.4% | 32.4% |
| WESTWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL WINTER HAVEN | 712 | 77.2% | 32.9% |
| SOUTHWEST MIDDLE SCHOOL LAKELAND | 746 | 73.3% | 35.3% |
| JENNINGS MIDDLE SCHOOL SEFFNER | 686 | 67.3% | 27.4% |
| SLEEPY HILL MIDDLE SCHOOL LAKELAND | 886 | 76.6% | 27.9% |
| AVON PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL AVON PARK | 600 | 70.3% | 42.9% |
Matched among Florida middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Florida | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 32.4% | #538 of 560 | #19 of 24 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.2% | #519 of 560 ▲ 9 | #19 of 24 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 34.5% | #498 of 560 ▲ 35 | #20 of 24 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 684 | #389 of 584 | #18 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 24.4:1 | #527 of 547 | #22 of 24 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.9% | #133 of 553 | #9 of 24 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 75.4% | #34 of 565 | #7 of 25 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -19.3% | #133 of 379 | #2 of 13 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
684
+53 (+8%) vs 2020
-11% since 1990-91, when it was 772
Student : Teacher
24.4:1
was 15.0:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 684 | 28 | 24.4:1 | 75% (516) |
| 2023-24 | 729 | 34 | 21.4:1 | 77% (561) |
| 2022-23 | 738 | 39 | 18.9:1 | 69% (509) |
| 2020-21 | 631 | 42 | 15.0:1 | 66% (418) |
| 2017-18 | 848 | 50 | 17.0:1 | 57% (487) |
| 2015-16 | 862 | 53 | 16.3:1 | 61% (524) |
| 2010-11 | 967 | 66 | 14.7:1 | 76% (734) |
| 2000-01 | 969 | 55 | 17.6:1 | 43% (415) |
| 1990-91 | 772 | 36 | 21.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL.
About DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL
DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL is a middle school in WINTER HAVEN, Florida, and it is part of POLK. It teaches 684 students in grades 6 through 8.
POLK has 163 schools; together they serve 116,552 students.
No group is above 50% at DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL; the largest is Hispanic, at 39%. The rest of enrollment is 39% Black and 19% White. Among all residents of Polk County, the Hispanic share is about 29%. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 66%.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 24.4:1. The school has 28 full-time-equivalent teachers. By comparison, the average for middle schools in Florida is 19.6:1. In all, 75% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That rate is above the 65% average among public schools in Polk County.
DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL earns a D on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 7% of Florida public middle schools.
Test results at DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL are 11.0 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (32.4% actual, 43.4% predicted).
In the surrounding county, Polk County, median household income comes to about $65,978, about 24% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 11%. The county's public schools total 172, with about 117,004 students.
LANGUAGE & LITERACY ACADEMY FOR LEARNING, about 0.2 miles away, is the closest public school. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. By average proficiency, DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL is 6th among 6 schools close by.
DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL falls in the City: Small locale category, used for schools inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
By 2024-25, enrollment had risen to 684, from 631 in 2020-21. By 2024-25, the school had 24.4 students per teacher, compared with 15.0 in 2020-21.
People who know DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
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 WINTER HAVEN
- WINTER HAVEN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,648 students
- CHAIN OF LAKES ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 1,007 students
- NEW BEGINNINGS HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 997 students
- FRED G. GARNER ACADEMYElementary · 817 students
- JEWETT SCHOOL OF THE ARTSElementary · 746 students
- WESTWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 712 students
Other Denison Middle schools
One other US public school is named Denison Middle. DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL is the largest of the 2.
- Denison Middle SchoolDenison, IA · 502 students
Nearby schools
- LANGUAGE & LITERACY ACADEMY FOR LEARNING0.2 mi · 332
- FRANK E. BRIGHAM ACADEMY0.2 mi · 547
- WINTER HAVEN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL0.5 mi · 2,648
- CYPRESS JUNCTION MONTESSORI0.6 mi · 317
- CHAIN OF LAKES COLLEGIATE HIGH0.9 mi · 340
- ELBERT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.1 mi · 549
Frequently asked questions
About DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOLHow many students attend DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL?
DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL enrolls approximately 684 students in grades 06-08.
Is DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL an elementary, middle, or high school?
DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL have?
DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL employs 28 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 24.4:1.
What is the student diversity at DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL?
Student demographics at DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL are roughly 19% White, 39% Hispanic, 39% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL in?
DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL is part of POLK.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.