Lake Success Academy

Lake Success Academy in Howey in the Hills, FL, is a small alternative school serving just 26 students in grades K-12 within the Lake district, a 3-star rated district ranking in the 54th percentile statewide.

This school stands out for its extreme challenges, particularly a chronic absenteeism rate of 74.1%—nearly double that of the nearby Lake Hills School (48.6%) and more than double the district average (37.7%). Academic proficiency is critically low, with only 18% of students proficient in Algebra 1 and 17% in 8th-grade ELA, compared to district averages of 55% and 53%, respectively. The graduation rate is just 40.0%, far below the district's 91.7%. Despite these outcomes, the school spends a remarkable $64,258 per student—over five times the spending of a high-performing school like Innovation Montessori Ocoee ($9,161) and higher than Lake Hills School ($56,397). The student-to-teacher ratio is an exceptionally low 3.7:1, suggesting potential for individualized attention, yet this has not translated into improved attendance or academic success.

The most relevant comparison is to Lake Hills School, located just over a mile away, which also serves an alternative population but outperforms Lake Success Academy in every metric: an 85.7% graduation rate, 48.6% chronic absenteeism, and lower poverty rates. This contrast highlights that while both schools face significant challenges, Lake Success Academy appears to serve a student population with profound, non-academic barriers to learning, such as severe behavioral, emotional, or socio-economic issues. The high spending likely reflects the cost of specialized staff and wraparound services, but the core issue remains the crippling absenteeism, where three out of four students miss substantial school. Any meaningful improvement would need to first address why students are not attending.