1
Enrollment
610
Elementary
DISTRICT 641 · STATE 604
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·POLK·NCES 120159004137
MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL
411 FLORIDA AVE N, LAKELAND, FL 33801 · (863) 499-1287 · Polk County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY12-CITYCHARTERREGULAR SCHOOL610 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 97% of Florida public elementary 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.3:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
36%
222 students
DISTRICT 65% · STATE 50%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 40 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 72 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 72 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 90 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 71 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 89 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 88 | 14% |
| Grade 6 | 88 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (72) is 18% smaller than its 6th grade class (88).
Student demographics
60%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
82.2%
FL avg 56.7% . +5.5pp since 2023
Math
87.1%
FL avg 58.9% . +1.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 82 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 87 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 are up about 1 points.
FAST / B.E.S.T. results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 82.2% | 87.1% |
| 2023-24 | 76.7% | 86.0% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of FL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
82.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
62.9%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+19.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 82% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 63% typical for Florida schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 19 points, placing it in Florida's top 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 MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL
MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL's state test result (82.0% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL this school | 610 | 36.4% | 82.0% |
| LIBERTY MAGNET SCHOOL VERO BEACH | 560 | 39.5% | 77.9% |
| LEILA DAVIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLEARWATER | 636 | 33.6% | 71.0% |
| BEACHLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL VERO BEACH | 534 | 36.7% | 75.2% |
| CURLEW CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PALM HARBOR | 610 | 32.6% | 73.6% |
| BERKLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AUBURNDALE | 696 | 35.8% | 77.2% |
Matched among Florida elementary 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 MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Florida | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 82.0% | #99 of 2,136 | #2 of 85 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 87.1% | #92 of 2,149 ▲ 7 | #3 of 86 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 82.2% | #102 of 2,149 ▲ 88 | #4 of 86 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 610 | #1,001 of 2,267 | #43 of 89 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.5:1 | #1,265 of 2,077 | #29 of 85 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.7% | #901 of 2,108 | #62 of 85 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 36.4% | #1,673 of 2,188 | #85 of 88 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.7% | #483 of 621 | #28 of 35 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
610
-8 (-1%) vs 2020
+75% since 2010-11, when it was 348
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
was 17.2:1
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 | 610 | 37 | 16.5:1 | 36% (222) |
| 2023-24 | 610 | 36 | 16.9:1 | 38% (231) |
| 2022-23 | 610 | 35 | 17.4:1 | 39% (236) |
| 2020-21 | 618 | 36 | 17.2:1 | 32% (200) |
| 2017-18 | 588 | 37 | 15.9:1 | 31% (180) |
| 2015-16 | 570 | 36 | 15.8:1 | 30% (170) |
| 2010-11 | 348 | 29 | 12.0:1 | 20% (69) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL.
About MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL
MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL is a medium-sized elementary school serving families in LAKELAND, Florida. The school reports 610 students in pre-K through 6.
MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL is one of the 163 schools that make up POLK (116,552 students in total).
A majority of students at MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL, 58%, are White. Beyond that, enrollment is 21% Hispanic, 14% Black, 4% multiracial, and 2% Asian. That is close to the 56% White share among all Polk County residents. MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL has a diversity index of 60%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Dividing enrollment by its 37 full-time-equivalent teachers gives a ratio of about 16.5:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in Florida is 17.5:1, higher than at this school. MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL reports 36% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The gap from the 65% average for public schools in Polk County is 29 points.
allk12 grades MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL an A+. The grade compares the school only with Florida public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL posts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 82.0%. Schools with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Florida are predicted to post 62.9%, so the school is 19.1 points ahead and in the state's top 10%.
Among Polk County residents, median household income is about $65,978, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 24%, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL is one of 172 public schools in Polk County, which together enroll about 117,004 students.
The closest other public school is LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY, less than a tenth of a mile away. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL at 2nd of 8.
By NCES locale, the school is City: Mid-size, or inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000. MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL is run as a public charter school.
Enrollment has been fairly stable: 618 in 2020-21 and 610 in 2024-25.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss science fairs, picture day, and bus routes at MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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
- LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY0.1 mi · 704
- ROSABELLE W. BLAKE ACADEMY0.9 mi · 562
- LAKELAND MONTESSORI MIDDLE SCHOOL0.9 mi · 30
- LINCOLN AVENUE ACADEMY1.1 mi · 512
- PACE CENTER FOR GIRLS1.1 mi · 59
- ROCHELLE SCHOOL OF THE ARTS1.1 mi · 762
Frequently asked questions
About MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRALHow large is MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL?
MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL enrolls approximately 610 students in grades PK-06.
What grades does MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL serve?
MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL serves grades PK-06.
How many students per teacher at MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL?
Approximately 16.5:1 students per teacher at MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL.
What is the student diversity at MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL?
Student demographics at MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL are roughly 58% White, 21% Hispanic, 14% Black, 2% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL public or private?
MCKEEL ACADEMY CENTRAL is a public K-12 school operated as a charter, overseen by POLK.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.