FRED G. GARNER ACADEMY

FRED G. GARNER ACADEMY is one of the moderately sized elementary schools in WINTER HAVEN, Florida, overseen by POLK, with 817 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 35% bigger than the typical public school in Florida, which averages around 604 students.

POLK comprises 163 schools with combined enrollment of 116,552 students; FRED G. GARNER ACADEMY is among them.

Demographically, FRED G. GARNER ACADEMY logs that the most-represented group is Black (43%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups; the rest consists of 37% Hispanic, 16% White, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 15% Black, putting the school's mix considerably more Black than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, FRED G. GARNER ACADEMY lists 46 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 17.8:1. That tracks the state average closely. About 78% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Polk County (around 65%), the school's rate is north of typical.

After controlling for student poverty, FRED G. GARNER ACADEMY sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 42.1%; this one delivers 45.1%.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Polk County indicate the typical household earns roughly $65,978 per year, about 24% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. In all, Polk County runs 172 public schools (combined enrollment of about 117,004 students), of which FRED G. GARNER ACADEMY is one.

The closest other public school is INWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, roughly 1.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), FRED G. GARNER ACADEMY ranks 4th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 48.2%.

The school occupies a city-core site.

Five-year trend. FRED G. GARNER ACADEMY's enrollment has ticked up 28% since 2018, when it stood at 640 (now 817). Over the same period, the White share shrank from 21% to 16%. Class-load math has widened: from 14.6:1 in 2018 to 17.8:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the FRED G. GARNER ACADEMY community share and discuss classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. The community welcomes input from current and former families.