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What's the most underrated thing about JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
4,291
High
DISTRICT 859 · STATE 1,035
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MIAMI-DADE·NCES 120039004077
JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH
15900 SW 56TH ST, MIAMI, FL 33185 · (305) 408-2700 · Miami-Dade County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL4,291 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
26.6:1
161 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 27.6:1 · STATE 23.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
38%
1,637 students
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 50%
Community
3
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on published attendance-zone data from MIAMI-DADE. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
FAST / B.E.S.T. 2024-25 . % at Level 3 or AboveEnglish Language Arts
70.0%
FL avg 56.7% . +0.4pp since 2023
Math
48.0%
FL avg 58.9% . -2.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 70 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 48 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Florida schools, those numbers are about 57 and 59. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are down about 2 points.
Source: FAST / B.E.S.T.. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
66.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
62.1%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 67% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 62% typical for Florida schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Florida's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
4,291
-117 (-3%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
26.6:1
was 24.6:1
% White
3%
was 5%
% Hispanic
94%
was 90%
% Black
1%
was 2%
% Asian
2%
was 2%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH
As a sprawling four-year high school in MIAMI, Florida, JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH serves 4,291 students from grades 9 through 12, run under MIAMI-DADE. Compared to the state average of about 1,035 students per school, that is 315% above typical.
MIAMI-DADE runs 527 schools in total, collectively educating 335,685 students. JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH is one of those campuses.
On the student-mix side, JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH lists that 94% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority; the rest comes out to 3% White. That is meaningfully more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 69%.
On the resource side, Staff filings list 161 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 26.6:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 23.5:1, putting JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 38% of students at JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Miami-Dade County (around 48%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.
After controlling for student poverty, JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 62.1%, the actual is 66.6%, a residual of +4.5 points.
Around the school, Miami-Dade County reports that median household income runs about $71,753, roughly 34% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Miami-Dade County runs 561 public schools (combined enrollment of about 335,817 students), of which JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH is one.
The closest other public school is DR. MANUEL C. BARREIRO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, roughly 0.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH comes 7th of 9 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 70.1%.
The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.
Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 3%: 4,408 students in 2018 compared to 4,291 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 24.6:1 in 2018 to 26.6:1 today.
Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.
Miami-Dade County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,738,356
Census ACS
Median income
$71,753
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
561
335,817 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in MIAMI-DADE
- CORAL REEF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,399 students
- SOUTH DADE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,382 students
- MIAMI SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,100 students
- HIALEAH GARDENS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,009 students
- BARBARA GOLEMAN SENIOR HIGHHigh · 2,973 students
- CORAL GABLES SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,894 students
Other schools in MIAMI
- CORAL REEF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,399 students
- MIAMI SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,100 students
- MIAMI PALMETTO SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,618 students
- SOUTHWEST MIAMI SENIOR HIGHHigh · 2,599 students
- G. HOLMES BRADDOCK SENIOR HIGHHigh · 2,291 students
- MIAMI SOUTHRIDGE SENIOR HIGHHigh · 2,238 students
Nearby schools
- DR. MANUEL C. BARREIRO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL0.4 mi · 530
- LAMAR LOUISE CURRY MIDDLE SCHOOL0.6 mi · 718
- BOWMAN ASHE/DOOLIN K-8 ACADEMY0.7 mi · 841
- JANE S. ROBERTS K-8 CENTER1.1 mi · 630
- DANTE B. FASCELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.3 mi · 403
- PINECREST PREPARATORY ACADEMY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL1.5 mi · 529
Frequently asked questions
About JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGHHow large is JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH?
JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH enrolls approximately 4,291 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH serve?
JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH?
Approximately 26.6:1 students per teacher at JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH.
How diverse is JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH?
JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH reports a student body of 3% White, 94% Hispanic, 1% Black, 2% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Who oversees JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH?
JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH is overseen by MIAMI-DADE in Miami-Dade County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.