MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY

Set in LAKELAND, Florida, MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY is a sizable four-year high school, overseen by POLK. It educates 1,750 students across grades 7 through 12. By comparison, Florida's public schools average about 1,035 students each, so MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY sits 69% larger than that benchmark.

MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY is one of 163 schools operated by POLK, a district that educates 116,552 students overall.

For racial and ethnic makeup, MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY logs that the largest single group is White, at 63% of enrollment; the rest comes out to 23% Hispanic, 8% Black, 4% Asian, 2% multiracial.

On the resource side, The school employs 74 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 23.6:1. The state averages about 23.5:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. An estimated 36% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is below Polk County's rate of about 65%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY ranks in the top 10% of Florida public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 63.0%; MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY posts 77.2%, +14.2 points above that line.

In the area at large, Polk County reports that the typical household earns roughly $65,978 per year, about 24% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. Across Polk County's 172 public schools (combined enrollment of about 117,004 students), MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: KATHLEEN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, around 0.9 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY at 3rd of 6; the average score across the group is 55.4%.

Geographically, the school is in an outer-ring area. As a public charter, MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY runs on public funding but with greater curricular and operational autonomy than a typical district school.

Over the past 7-year window. MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY's enrollment has climbed 19% since 2018, when it stood at 1,467 (now 1,750). The Hispanic share of enrollment ticked up from 16% to 23% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 10.9:1 in 2018 to 23.6:1 today.

On this page, members of the MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY community share and discuss classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.