JAMES S. RICKARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL

JAMES S. RICKARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL, a medium-sized middle-grades school in OAKLAND PARK, Florida, part of BROWARD, enrolls 770 students, covering grades 6 through 8.

BROWARD runs 325 schools in total, collectively educating 243,591 students. JAMES S. RICKARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, JAMES S. RICKARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL shows that Hispanic students make up the majority at 60%. The remainder comes out to 25% Black, 10% White, 4% multiracial. That is visibly more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 33%.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, JAMES S. RICKARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL has 42 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 18.3:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 19.6:1 average. Roughly 52% of students at JAMES S. RICKARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is north of Broward County's rate of about 38%.

With demographic context factored in, JAMES S. RICKARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 55.1% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 44.2%.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Broward County put median household earnings sit near $77,633, about 37% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 9%. Across Broward County's 338 public schools (combined enrollment of about 244,502 students), JAMES S. RICKARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is NORTHEAST HIGH SCHOOL, roughly 0.5 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts JAMES S. RICKARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL at 6th of 9; the average score across the group is 51.2%.

The school occupies a bedroom-community site.

Trend over the last 7 years. JAMES S. RICKARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL's enrollment has edged down 11% since 2018, when it stood at 869 (now 770). Over the same period, the Hispanic share expanded from 48% to 60%. Class-load math has loosened: from 15.5:1 in 2018 to 18.3:1 in 2025.

On the community side, posts here usually surface around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.