MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE

Set in LAKE WALES, Florida, MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE is a modestly sized high school, part of POLK. It teaches 758 students across grades 6 through 11. By comparison, Florida's public schools average about 1,035 students each, so MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE sits 27% below that benchmark.

Within POLK, which oversees 163 schools and 116,552 students, MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE is one campus in the system.

On demographics, MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE logs that 44% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school reports 28% Black, 26% White. By comparison, Polk County as a whole is about 29% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE reports 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 24.4:1. The state averages around 23.5:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 80% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Polk County runs at roughly 65%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE is in the bottom 10% of Florida public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 41.0%; MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE posts 25.9%, -15.1 points below that line.

In the surrounding community, census data for Polk County shows the typical household earns roughly $65,978 per year, about 24% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Polk County runs 172 public schools (combined enrollment of about 117,004 students), of which MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE is one.

The closest other public school is POLK AVENUE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, roughly 0.6 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE at 7th of 7; the average score across the group is 48.4%.

The school occupies a residential site.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE has shrank 7%, going from 813 students in 2018 to 758 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share shrank from 35% to 26%. Class-load math has rose: from 15.6:1 in 2018 to 24.4:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.