High Schools in Leon

Leon County, Florida, is home to nine high schools serving grades 9-12, ranging from large traditional campuses to specialized alternative programs, and the district ranks 39th out of 70 in the state, indicating below-average performance overall. The data reveals a stark divide between high-performing schools like Lawton Chiles High School, which ranks in the top 15% of Florida high schools with a 98.3% graduation rate and very low poverty levels, and struggling schools such as Success Academy At Ghazvini Learning Center, which ranks in the bottom 2% with a 17.1% graduation rate and critically low test scores. Sail stands out as a high-performing smaller school with a 4-star rating and strong proficiency in US History and English, while Pace Center For Girls serves a unique, at-risk population with the highest poverty rate and chronic absenteeism in the district.

Key metrics show a wide gap in graduation rates, with Lincoln High School at 92.7% and Leon High School at 84.2%, while James Rickards High School and Amos P. Godby High School fall below the state average. Chronic absenteeism is a major challenge, with rates exceeding 60% at several schools, though the Leon County Virtual School Franchise has a remarkably low rate of 0.7%. Per-student spending varies dramatically, from around $8,000 at traditional schools to over $20,000 at Success Academy, yet higher spending does not guarantee better outcomes, as Success Academy has the highest spending but the worst academic results.

Interesting findings include the strong correlation between poverty and performance, with the top three schools having the lowest poverty rates and the bottom three having the highest. Subject-specific strengths emerge, such as James Rickards High School achieving outstanding proficiency in US History and Biology despite a low overall rank. The middle-tier schools—Lincoln, Leon, and James Rickards—show mixed results, with Lincoln having a higher graduation rate than Leon despite a lower state rank, highlighting that test scores and graduation rates can tell different stories about school quality. The Virtual School's volatility, dropping from the 74th to 60th percentile in one year, underscores the impact of small enrollment on metrics.