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What's the most underrated thing about DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,039
Middle
DISTRICT 741 · STATE 794
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·POLK·NCES 120159003112
DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED
1000 BUENA VISTA DR N, LAKE ALFRED, FL 33850 · (863) 295-5955 · Polk County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE41-RURALCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,039 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 58% of Florida public middle schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
21.6:1
48 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.9:1 · STATE 19.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
67%
694 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 | 340 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 363 | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 336 | 32% |
Student demographics
65%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
56.6%
FL avg 56.7% . +8.3pp since 2023
Math
52.3%
FL avg 58.9% . +4.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 52 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 8 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
FAST / B.E.S.T. results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 56.6% | 52.3% |
| 2023-24 | 48.3% | 47.5% |
% 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
52.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.7%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 53% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 48% 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 DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED
DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED's state test result (52.9% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED this school | 1,039 | 66.8% | 52.9% |
| SOUTH SEMINOLE MIDDLE SCHOOL CASSELBERRY | 842 | 69.8% | 46.0% |
| W. D. SUGG MIDDLE SCHOOL BRADENTON | 1,017 | 66.3% | 30.2% |
| MARSHALL MIDDLE MAGNET SCHOOL PLANT CITY | 1,066 | 60.4% | 42.6% |
| MARTHA B. KING MIDDLE SCHOOL BRADENTON | 897 | 65.6% | 47.9% |
| LAKE WEIR MIDDLE SCHOOL SUMMERFIELD | 1,141 | 66.8% | 39.6% |
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 DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Florida | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 52.9% | #296 of 560 | #10 of 24 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 52.3% | #343 of 560 ▲ 11 | #9 of 24 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 56.6% | #247 of 560 ▲ 39 | #9 of 24 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,039 | #127 of 584 | #5 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.6:1 | #454 of 547 | #15 of 24 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.7% | #166 of 553 | #14 of 24 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 66.8% | #89 of 565 | #17 of 25 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +8.7% | #77 of 137 | #6 of 9 |
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
1,039
+65 (+7%) vs 2020
+26% since 2000-01, when it was 826
Student : Teacher
21.6:1
was 19.5:1
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 | 1,039 | 48 | 21.6:1 | 67% (694) |
| 2023-24 | 911 | 48 | 19.0:1 | 75% (682) |
| 2022-23 | 911 | 48 | 19.0:1 | 75% (687) |
| 2020-21 | 974 | 50 | 19.5:1 | 67% (654) |
| 2017-18 | 956 | 57 | 16.8:1 | 76% (723) |
| 2015-16 | 1,042 | 59 | 17.7:1 | 76% (797) |
| 2010-11 | 988 | 63 | 15.7:1 | 69% (681) |
| 2000-01 | 826 | 45 | 18.4:1 | 57% (469) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED.
About DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED
DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED is a middle-grades school in LAKE ALFRED, Florida, according to federal school records. Enrollment stands at 1,039 students, covering grades 6 through 8. That is 31% larger than the average of about 794 students for middle schools in Florida.
DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED is part of POLK, where 163 schools serve 116,552 students.
Hispanic students make up 49% of enrollment at DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED, the largest share of any group. The next largest groups are 29% White, 18% Black, and 4% multiracial. In Polk County overall, about 29% of residents are Hispanic. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 65, compared with 70 nationally.
On staff are 48 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 21.6:1. The average for middle schools in Florida is 19.6:1, so this school has more students per teacher. About 67% of students at DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Polk County average a similar 65%.
DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED holds a B allk12 Grade, placing it above 58% of Florida public middle schools.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 47.7% at DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED; the school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 52.9%.
American Community Survey estimates for Polk County show that the median household earns about $65,978 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 24%, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. Across Polk County, 172 public schools serve about 117,004 students.
A public school about 0.2 miles away, KAREN M. SIEGEL ACADEMY, is the closest to DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED. DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Nearby schools with test data average 47.4% proficiency; DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED posts 52.9%.
The federal government classifies DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED's location as Rural: Fringe. DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED is a charter school, a type of public school that operates under a charter.
The school's enrollment increased 7% from 2020-21 to 2024-25. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio increased to 21.6:1, from 19.5:1.
This page collects posts and questions about DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED, such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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 LAKE ALFRED
- LAKE ALFRED ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 1,059 students
- DISCOVERY HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 898 students
- LAKE ALFRED POLYTECH ACADEMYMiddle · 734 students
- KAREN M. SIEGEL ACADEMYCombined · 175 students
Nearby schools
- KAREN M. SIEGEL ACADEMY0.2 mi · 175
- LAKE ALFRED POLYTECH ACADEMY0.2 mi · 734
- DISCOVERY HIGH SCHOOL0.4 mi · 898
- LAKE ALFRED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.4 mi · 1,059
- HARTRIDGE ACADEMY2.8 mi · 200
- NEW BEGINNINGS HIGH SCHOOL3.5 mi · 997
Frequently asked questions
About DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFREDWhat is the total enrollment at DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED?
DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED enrolls approximately 1,039 students in grades 06-08.
Is DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED an elementary, middle, or high school?
DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED?
Approximately 21.6:1 students per teacher at DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED.
How diverse is DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED?
DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED reports a student body of 29% White, 49% Hispanic, 18% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED public or private?
DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED is a public K-12 school operated as a charter, overseen by POLK.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.