PURCELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

As a modestly sized elementary-level community in MULBERRY, Florida, PURCELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls 438 students from grades pre-K through 5, part of POLK. That puts it 27% smaller than the typical public school in Florida, which averages around 604 students.

PURCELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of 163 schools operated by POLK, a district that works with 116,552 students overall.

For racial and ethnic makeup, PURCELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL records that the most-represented group is Hispanic (49%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups; the rest is composed of 36% White, 12% Black, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 29% Hispanic, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 18.3:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 17.5:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 82% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Polk County (around 65%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, PURCELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 40.2% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 35.5%.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Polk County) logs that median household income runs about $65,978, 24% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. PURCELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of 172 public schools in Polk County (combined enrollment of about 117,004 students).

Nearest neighbor: MULBERRY MIDDLE SCHOOL, around 0.6 miles off. 7 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, PURCELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL comes 8th of 8 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 48.5%.

The campus sits in an outer-ring setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 11%: 493 students in 2018 compared to 438 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 47% to 36% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 13.0:1 in 2018 to 18.3:1 today.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Members of the school community can share what they know.