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If you had an hour of school board time for DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,215
High
DISTRICT 463 · STATE 1,035
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DESOTO·NCES 120042000620
DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
1710 E GIBSON ST, ARCADIA, FL 34266 · (863) 494-3434 · DeSoto County
GRADES 09–12HIGH32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,215 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 11% of Florida public high schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
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 high schools
Student : Teacher
17.7:1
68 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.8:1 · STATE 23.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
51%
618 students
DISTRICT 60% · STATE 50%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 399 | 33% |
| Grade 10 | 308 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 257 | 21% |
| Grade 12 | 251 | 21% |
Student demographics
61%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · 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
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within DESOTO. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
FAST / B.E.S.T. 2024-25 . % at Level 3 or AboveEnglish Language Arts
40.8%
FL avg 56.7% . +6.9pp since 2023
Math
32.0%
FL avg 58.9% . +13.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 41 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 32 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 13 points.
FAST / B.E.S.T. results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 40.8% | 32.0% |
| 2023-24 | 33.9% | 19.0% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of FL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
40.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
55.7%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 56% typical for Florida schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL's state test result (40.0% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL this school | 1,215 | 50.9% | 40.0% |
| ISLAND COAST HIGH SCHOOL CAPE CORAL | 1,477 | 51.0% | 31.3% |
| DELTONA HIGH SCHOOL DELTONA | 1,716 | 51.2% | 58.9% |
| NAPLES HIGH SCHOOL NAPLES | 1,535 | 47.4% | 58.2% |
| PINE RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL DELTONA | 1,648 | 51.2% | 50.3% |
| PASCO HIGH SCHOOL DADE CITY | 1,523 | 47.8% | 35.8% |
Matched among Florida high 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 DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Florida |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.0% | #486 of 555 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 32.0% | #384 of 549 ▲ 99 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 40.8% | #489 of 559 ▲ 16 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,215 | #355 of 830 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.7:1 | #76 of 575 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 61.0% | #236 of 594 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.9% | #223 of 630 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.6% | #240 of 289 |
Ranked against other public high 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
1,215
+46 (+4%) vs 2020
+34% since 1990-91, when it was 908
Student : Teacher
17.7:1
was 17.7:1
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 | 1,215 | 68.5 | 17.7:1 | 51% (618) |
| 2023-24 | 1,259 | 69.5 | 18.1:1 | 61% (774) |
| 2022-23 | 1,244 | 70.3 | 17.7:1 | 67% (829) |
| 2020-21 | 1,169 | 66 | 17.7:1 | 55% (644) |
| 2017-18 | 1,248 | 66 | 18.9:1 | 8% (102) |
| 2015-16 | 1,233 | 69 | 17.9:1 | 53% (652) |
| 2010-11 | 1,111 | 68 | 16.3:1 | 68% (759) |
| 2000-01 | 1,109 | 65 | 17.1:1 | 43% (479) |
| 1990-91 | 908 | 60 | 15.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL.
About DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL is a medium-sized high school serving families in ARCADIA, Florida. The school's 1,215 students are in grades 9 through 12.
The 9 schools in DESOTO enroll 4,171 students altogether, DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL among them.
Roughly 52% of students at DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL are Hispanic. Other groups make up 33% White, 12% Black, and 2% multiracial. County-wide, 30% of DeSoto County residents are Hispanic. Pick two students at random and there is a 61% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL employs 68.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. That gives a ratio of about 17.7:1. This ratio sits 5.8 below the 23.5:1 average for high schools in Florida. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility was 51% in 2024-25. That rate is below the 60% average among public schools in DeSoto County.
Measured against Florida public high schools, DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL receives a D. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL scores 15.6 points below its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests: 40.0% actual versus 55.7% predicted. That puts it in the bottom 10% of Florida schools on BeatsExpectations.
DeSoto County has about 35,386 residents, and the median household income is $54,417, 11% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 19% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Besides DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL, DeSoto County has 10 other public schools.
The next-closest public school is DESOTO VIRTUAL ACADEMY, about 0.6 miles away. DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL is one of several public schools in the area, with 7 others within five miles. DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL's average proficiency of 40.0% compares with 43.3% for its nearest scored neighbors.
NCES describes the area around DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL as Town: Distant, meaning in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL's enrollment grew from 1,169 in 2020-21 to 1,215 in 2024-25.
Parents and students can post about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater at DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
DeSoto County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
35,386
Census ACS
Median income
$54,417
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
11%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
19%
Below federal line
Schools in county
11
4,171 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in DESOTO
- DESOTO MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 922 students
- MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 861 students
- WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 622 students
- NOCATEE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 475 students
- DESOTO SECONDARY SCHOOLCombined · 51 students
- DESOTO VIRTUAL FRANCHISECombined · 10 students
Other schools in ARCADIA
- DESOTO MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 922 students
- MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 861 students
- WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 622 students
- DESOTO SECONDARY SCHOOLCombined · 51 students
- DESOTO VIRTUAL FRANCHISECombined · 10 students
- REDUCED SERVICESCombined · 9 students
Nearby schools
- DESOTO VIRTUAL ACADEMY0.6 mi · 6
- DESOTO MIDDLE SCHOOL0.7 mi · 922
- MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL0.9 mi · 861
- REDUCED SERVICES1.5 mi · 9
- DESOTO VIRTUAL FRANCHISE1.5 mi · 10
- WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.5 mi · 622
Frequently asked questions
About DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLHow many students attend DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL?
DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL enrolls approximately 1,215 students in grades 09-12.
Is DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL an elementary, middle, or high school?
DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL?
Approximately 17.7:1 students per teacher at DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL.
What is the student diversity at DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL?
Student demographics at DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL are roughly 33% White, 52% Hispanic, 12% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL in?
DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL is part of DESOTO.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.