FOREST HIGH SCHOOL

FOREST HIGH SCHOOL is a senior high of substantial scale in OCALA, Florida, overseen by MARION, teacheing 2,387 students in grades 9 through 12. By comparison, Florida's public schools average about 1,035 students each, so FOREST HIGH SCHOOL sits 131% bigger than that benchmark.

MARION runs 62 schools in total, collectively educating 46,349 students. FOREST HIGH SCHOOL is one of those campuses.

Demographically, FOREST HIGH SCHOOL reports that 54% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. The remainder consists of 22% Hispanic, 17% Black, 5% multiracial, 2% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 69% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully less White than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, FOREST HIGH SCHOOL logs 99 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 24.1:1. The state averages about 23.5:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Roughly 37% of students at FOREST HIGH SCHOOL qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is lower than Marion County's rate of about 57%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, FOREST HIGH SCHOOL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 62.5%, the actual is 55.3%, a residual of -7.2 points.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Marion County indicate median household income runs about $61,010, about 23% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Across Marion County's 68 public schools (combined enrollment of about 46,349 students), FOREST HIGH SCHOOL is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: SILVER RIVER MENTORING AND INSTRUCTION, around 1.4 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, FOREST HIGH SCHOOL comes 4th of 7 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 50.9%.

FOREST HIGH SCHOOL operates from a residential location.

Five-year trend. FOREST HIGH SCHOOL's enrollment has climbed 11% since 2018, when it stood at 2,145 (now 2,387). Over the same period, the White share shrank from 61% to 54%. Class-load math has loosened: from 20.8:1 in 2018 to 24.1:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.