Glades

The Glades school district is a small, rural district in Florida with six schools serving approximately 1,851 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, including three elementary schools, one high school, and two alternative programs.

The standout school in the district is Pemayetv Emahakv Charter Our Way School, which is the only school to earn a 5-star rating and consistently ranks in the top 20% of Florida elementary schools. It spends $35,219 per student and has a 1% free/reduced lunch rate, creating a stark contrast with other schools. West Glades School is the highest-performing traditional public school, jumping from a 3-star to a 4-star rating and achieving a perfect 100% proficiency on the Geometry EOC. In contrast, Moore Haven Middle High School faces significant challenges with a 2-star rating, a 43.7% chronic absenteeism rate, and a high student-to-teacher ratio of 29.2:1, yet it paradoxically boasts a 94.7% graduation rate that exceeds state averages. Moore Haven Elementary School has the highest poverty rate at 74.13% and has stagnated around the 47th percentile, while the Glades Virtual Instruction Program spends only $2,757 per student and has a concerning 72.7% graduation rate.

Key takeaways include the strong correlation between poverty and performance, with the two highest-poverty schools also having the lowest academic rankings and highest absenteeism. The district's overall ranking is 16th out of 70 in Florida (77th percentile, 4 stars), but the wide disparities between schools mean parents should carefully evaluate individual options. West Glades School demonstrates that strong performance is possible even with a moderate poverty rate of 46.54%, suggesting that school-level leadership and teaching quality make a tangible difference beyond socioeconomic factors.