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What's the best and worst thing about the food at DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL?
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
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
3
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle 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
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.
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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
684
-164 (-19%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
24.4:1
was 17.0:1
% White
19%
was 30%
% Hispanic
39%
was 32%
% Black
39%
was 34%
% Asian
1%
was 1%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL
DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL is a middle school of average-sized scale in WINTER HAVEN, Florida, part of POLK, works with 684 students in grades 6 through 8.
Within POLK, which oversees 163 schools and 116,552 students, DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL is one campus in the system.
On demographics, DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL reports that the largest single group is Hispanic at 39%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder is composed of 39% Black, 19% White. By comparison, Polk County as a whole is about 29% Hispanic, so the school skews visibly more Hispanic than its surroundings.
In terms of school funding signals, The school currently runs with 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 24.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 19.6:1, putting DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL higher than the state norm the norm. About 75% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is higher than Polk County's rate of about 65%.
On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 43.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 32.4%.
Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Polk County indicate the typical household earns roughly $65,978 per year, 24% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. In all, Polk County runs 172 public schools (combined enrollment of about 117,004 students), of which DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL is one.
Nearest neighbor: LANGUAGE & LITERACY ACADEMY FOR LEARNING, around 0.2 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL at 6th of 6; the average score across the group is 55.0%.
The school occupies a city-core site.
Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at DENISON MIDDLE SCHOOL has ticked down 19%, going from 848 students in 2018 to 684 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share contracted from 30% to 19%. Class-load math has loosened: from 17.0:1 in 2018 to 24.4:1 in 2025.
In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around 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 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
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.