HIGHLANDS GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Located at 4510 LAKELAND HIGHLANDS RD, in LAKELAND, Florida, HIGHLANDS GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a mid-sized elementary campus that educates 691 students (grades pre-K through 5), one of the schools within POLK.

POLK runs 163 schools in total, collectively educating 116,552 students. HIGHLANDS GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, HIGHLANDS GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL reports that the largest single group is White at 51%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school shows 28% Hispanic, 15% Black, 3% multiracial, 3% Asian.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 46 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 15.0:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 17.5:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 50% of students at HIGHLANDS GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Polk County runs at roughly 65%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat below the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, HIGHLANDS GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 56.1%, the actual is 66.5%, a residual of +10.5 points.

Around the school, Polk County reports that the typical household earns roughly $65,978 per year, 24% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. HIGHLANDS GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of 172 public schools in Polk County (combined enrollment of about 117,004 students).

The closest other public school is GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGH, roughly 1.8 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 5 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), HIGHLANDS GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 57.9%.

Geographically, the school is in an outer-ring area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at HIGHLANDS GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has shrank 13%, going from 792 students in 2018 to 691 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share declined from 60% to 51%.

On the community side, the feed for HIGHLANDS GROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL typically covers science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.