Middle Schools in Desoto

There is one middle school in the Desoto area, Desoto Middle School, serving grades 6 through 8 in Arcadia, Florida, as part of the Desoto County school district, which ranks in the bottom 3% of Florida districts.

Desoto Middle School has consistently received a 1-star rating over the last three years, placing it in the 19th to 24th percentile statewide. The school's strongest academic area is Algebra 1, where 55% of students are proficient, significantly outperforming the district average of 35% and approaching the state average of 63%. However, this strength is an outlier. The school struggles most with 8th-grade Science, where only 27% of students are proficient—half the state average of 52%. English Language Arts proficiency ranges from 43% in 6th grade to 54% in 7th grade, all below state averages of 60-62%. Civics proficiency is 62%, well below the state's 77%.

A major concern is the school's chronic absenteeism rate of 37.7%, which is higher than both the district (34.0%) and state (31.4%) averages. With over a third of students missing significant school days, academic progress is severely hindered. The school spends $12,333 per student and has a student-teacher ratio of 16.4:1, yet these resources have not translated into high outcomes. Notably, 7th-grade performance shows significant volatility, with math proficiency dropping from 55% to 43% year-over-year while ELA proficiency jumped from 38% to 54%, suggesting possible instability in instruction or student cohorts. Reducing chronic absenteeism appears to be the most critical lever for improvement.