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What's one thing WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
577
Elementary
DISTRICT 433 · STATE 604
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARDEE·NCES 120075000881
WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
400 S FLORIDA AVE, WAUCHULA, FL 33873 · (863) 773-3141 · Hardee County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL577 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.9:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
76%
437 students
DISTRICT 72% · STATE 50%
Community
3
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
63.4%
FL avg 56.7% . +6.3pp since 2023
Math
65.8%
FL avg 58.9% . +3.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 66 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 6 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
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
58.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
43.2%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+15.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 59% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 43% 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 15 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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
577
-99 (-15%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
was 12.8:1
% White
30%
was 36%
% Hispanic
57%
was 50%
% Black
10%
was 11%
% Asian
0%
was 1%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is an elementary-level community of medium-sized scale in WAUCHULA, Florida, part of HARDEE, teacheing 577 students in grades pre-K through 5.
WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of 9 schools operated by HARDEE, a district that instructs 4,547 students overall.
In terms of who attends, WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL logs that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 57% of enrollment. The remainder breaks down as 30% White, 10% Black, 3% multiracial. That is meaningfully more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 42%.
In terms of school funding signals, On paper, WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has 37 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 15.6:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 17.5:1 average. Around 76% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy.
With demographic context factored in, WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL sits in the top 10% of Florida schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 43.2%; actual is 58.5%, +15.3 points clear of the demographic baseline.
In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Hardee County) shows that the typical household earns roughly $60,489 per year, about 12% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 20% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Hardee County runs 11 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,547 students), of which WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one.
The closest other public school is PIONEER CAREER ACADEMY, roughly 0.2 miles away. Within five miles, there are 7 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL at 1st of 7; the average score across the group is 46.8%.
The campus sits in a small-town setting.
Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 15%: 676 students in 2018 compared to 577 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 50% to 57% across the same window. Class-load math has rose: from 12.8:1 in 2018 to 15.6:1 in 2025.
Within the allk12 community for this school, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.
Hardee County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
25,675
Census ACS
Median income
$60,489
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
12%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
20%
Below federal line
Schools in county
11
4,547 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in HARDEE
- HARDEE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,347 students
- HARDEE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 958 students
- NORTH WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 516 students
- ZOLFO SPRINGS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 512 students
- HILLTOP ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 298 students
- BOWLING GREEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 260 students
Other schools in WAUCHULA
- HARDEE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,347 students
- HARDEE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 958 students
- NORTH WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 516 students
- HILLTOP ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 298 students
- HARDEE VIRTUAL FRANCHISECombined · 52 students
- PIONEER CAREER ACADEMYHigh · 27 students
Nearby schools
- PIONEER CAREER ACADEMY0.2 mi · 27
- HARDEE VIRTUAL FRANCHISE1.1 mi · 52
- NORTH WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.3 mi · 516
- HARDEE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL1.4 mi · 1,347
- HILLTOP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL3.0 mi · 298
- HARDEE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL3.0 mi · 958
Frequently asked questions
About WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLHow large is WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls approximately 577 students in grades PK-05.
Is WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL an elementary, middle, or high school?
WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL have?
WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL employs 37 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.6:1.
What is the student diversity at WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
Student demographics at WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL are roughly 30% White, 57% Hispanic, 10% Black, 0% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
WAUCHULA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is overseen by HARDEE in Hardee County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.