Interlachen Junior-Senior High School

Interlachen Junior-Senior High School in Interlachen, FL, serves 999 students in grades 7-12 within the Putnam County School District, a high-poverty area where nearly 58% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

This school faces significant challenges, most notably a chronic absenteeism rate of 67.1%—more than double the state average—which directly impacts its low academic performance. Test scores are consistently among the lowest in the region; for example, only 25% of students are proficient in Algebra 1 and just 34% in 10th-grade English Language Arts. Math proficiency has seen a catastrophic decline, with 8th-grade scores dropping from 52% to just 19% over three years. Despite these struggles, the school boasts a remarkable 98.6% graduation rate, suggesting a strong focus on credit recovery and alternative pathways rather than rigorous academic proficiency. Bright spots include relative strength in US History (65% proficient) and Biology 1 (54% proficient), which offer potential models for improvement.

The most striking comparison is with Q.I. Roberts Junior - Senior High School, located just 7 miles away in the same district. While Interlachen is rated 1 star and ranks in the 21st percentile, Q.I. Roberts is a 5-star school in the 93rd percentile, with 97% Algebra 1 proficiency and 94% 10th-grade ELA proficiency. This gap is driven by socioeconomic factors: Q.I. Roberts has a lower poverty rate (35.2%) and a much lower chronic absenteeism rate (42.7%). Interlachen also spends more per student ($13,079) than Q.I. Roberts ($11,161) but achieves far worse outcomes, indicating a critical need for targeted interventions in attendance, early math instruction, and resource allocation.