GARDEN GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

GARDEN GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, a mid-sized elementary school in WINTER HAVEN, Florida, part of POLK, teaches 652 students, covering grades pre-K through 5.

Within POLK, which oversees 163 schools and 116,552 students, GARDEN GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one campus in the system.

Demographically, GARDEN GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL shows that the most-represented group is White (34%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school reports 32% Hispanic, 29% Black, 4% multiracial. By comparison, Polk County as a whole is about 56% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, GARDEN GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 21.0:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 17.5:1 average. An estimated 74% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Polk County runs at roughly 65%, so the school's eligibility rate is above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), GARDEN GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 43.9%; this one delivers 48.9%.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Polk County) shows that the typical household earns roughly $65,978 per year, roughly 24% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Polk County's 172 public schools (combined enrollment of about 117,004 students), GARDEN GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is CHAIN OF LAKES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, roughly 2.6 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around GARDEN GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), GARDEN GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 4th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 53.5%.

Geographically, the school is in a bedroom-community area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 24%: 526 students in 2018 compared to 652 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 50% to 34% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio grew from 15.9:1 in 2018 to 21.0:1 today.

On this page, the feed for GARDEN GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.