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Enrollment
704
Middle
DISTRICT 741 · STATE 794
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·POLK·NCES 120159003015
LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY
400 FLORIDA AVE N, LAKELAND, FL 33801 · (863) 499-2742 · Polk County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL704 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 79% of Florida public middle schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Florida public middle schools
Student : Teacher
20.7:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.9:1 · STATE 19.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
44%
308 students
DISTRICT 65% · STATE 50%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 252 | 36% |
| Grade 7 | 241 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 211 | 30% |
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 67% · STATE 70% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
FAST / B.E.S.T. 2024-25 . % at Level 3 or AboveEnglish Language Arts
73.9%
FL avg 56.7% . +5.0pp since 2023
Math
63.6%
FL avg 58.9% . -0.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 64 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Florida schools, those numbers are about 57 and 59. Reading and writing scores are up about 5 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
FAST / B.E.S.T. results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 73.9% | 63.6% |
| 2023-24 | 68.9% | 64.1% |
% at Level 3 or Above, all students and all tested grades.
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
65.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
59.3%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 66% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 59% 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 →
Schools most like LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY
LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY's state test result (65.9% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY this school | 704 | 43.8% | 65.9% |
| MARKHAM WOODS MIDDLE SCHOOL LAKE MARY | 900 | 49.4% | 57.2% |
| DUNEDIN HIGHLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL DUNEDIN | 842 | 39.9% | 64.2% |
| LANDMARK MIDDLE SCHOOL JACKSONVILLE | 876 | 40.9% | 55.8% |
| WATSON B. DUNCAN MIDDLE SCHOOL PALM BEACH GARDENS | 1,042 | 39.0% | 65.0% |
| FORT CLARKE MIDDLE SCHOOL GAINESVILLE | 840 | 51.3% | 55.7% |
Matched among Florida middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Florida | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 65.9% | #134 of 560 | #3 of 24 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 63.6% | #219 of 560 ▼ 44 | #3 of 24 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 73.9% | #66 of 560 ▲ 4 | #2 of 24 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 704 | #376 of 584 | #17 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.7:1 | #398 of 547 | #14 of 24 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.4% | #63 of 553 | #3 of 24 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 43.8% | #381 of 565 | #24 of 25 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +8.1% | #80 of 137 | #7 of 9 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
704
+54 (+8%) vs 2020
+31% since 2000-01, when it was 539
Student : Teacher
20.7:1
was 17.6:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 704 | 34 | 20.7:1 | 44% (308) |
| 2023-24 | 671 | 34 | 19.7:1 | 40% (269) |
| 2022-23 | 649 | 34 | 19.1:1 | 33% (212) |
| 2020-21 | 650 | 37 | 17.6:1 | 28% (180) |
| 2017-18 | 651 | 37 | 17.6:1 | 29% (190) |
| 2015-16 | 655 | 36 | 18.2:1 | 30% (199) |
| 2010-11 | 655 | 38 | 17.2:1 | 23% (149) |
| 2000-01 | 539 | 32 | 16.8:1 | 19% (105) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY.
About LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY
LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY is a mid-sized middle school in LAKELAND, Florida, under POLK. It teaches 704 students in grades 6 through 8.
The 163 schools of POLK, including LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY, enroll 116,552 students.
The student body at LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY has no majority group. White students lead at 45%. The next largest groups are 23% Hispanic, 22% Black, 7% Asian, and 4% multiracial. The school's White share is 11 points below the 56% share among Polk County residents. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 69%.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 20.7:1. The school has 34 full-time-equivalent teachers. Across middle schools in Florida, the average ratio is 19.6:1. Federal data show 44% of students (308) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in Polk County is 65%.
LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY earns an A- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 79% of Florida public middle schools.
LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY scores 65.9% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 59.3%.
Polk County is the school's county. There, the median household earns about $65,978 a year, roughly 24% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 11%. LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY shares Polk County with 171 other public schools.
MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL is less than a tenth of a mile away, making it the nearest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY is 4th of 6 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Mid-size: inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
An 8% rise took enrollment from 650 in 2020-21 to 704 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio increased from 17.6:1 in 2020-21 to 20.7:1 in 2024-25.
On allk12, people connected to LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Polk County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
790,694
Census ACS
Median income
$65,978
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
24%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
172
117,004 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in POLK
- HAINES CITY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 3,105 students
- DAVENPORT HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,731 students
- WINTER HAVEN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,648 students
- RIDGE COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,632 students
- GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGHHigh · 2,469 students
- BARTOW SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,276 students
Other schools in LAKELAND
- GEORGE W. JENKINS SENIOR HIGHHigh · 2,469 students
- LAKELAND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,985 students
- LAKE GIBSON SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,973 students
- KATHLEEN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,861 students
- MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGYHigh · 1,750 students
- SOUTH MCKEEL ACADEMYElementary · 1,200 students
Nearby schools
- MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL0.1 mi · 610
- ROSABELLE W. BLAKE ACADEMY0.8 mi · 562
- LAKELAND MONTESSORI MIDDLE SCHOOL0.9 mi · 30
- LINCOLN AVENUE ACADEMY1.0 mi · 512
- ROCHELLE SCHOOL OF THE ARTS1.1 mi · 762
- PACE CENTER FOR GIRLS1.2 mi · 59
Frequently asked questions
About LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMYHow many students attend LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY?
LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY enrolls approximately 704 students in grades 06-08.
Is LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY an elementary, middle, or high school?
LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY?
The student-to-teacher ratio at LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY is approximately 20.7:1 (34 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY?
Student demographics at LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY are roughly 45% White, 23% Hispanic, 22% Black, 7% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY in?
LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY is part of POLK.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.