Summary:
The two public schools serving zip code 32112 in Crescent City, Florida, are part of the Putnam County School District, which ranks in the 11th percentile statewide, and serve students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in a high-poverty area where over 60% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Crescent City Junior-Senior High School presents a striking paradox: it boasts an exceptional 98.8% graduation rate, far exceeding state averages, yet struggles with a critical chronic absenteeism rate of 66.3%—more than double the state average. The high school ranks in the 26th percentile statewide and shows relative strength in 10th-grade English Language Arts, where 54% of students are proficient, outperforming the district average. However, only 17% of 8th graders are proficient in Science, a massive gap compared to the state's 52%. In contrast, Middleton-Burney Elementary School ranks in the 9th percentile statewide and has declined from the 14th percentile over three years, with proficiency rates consistently below district and state averages—for example, only 29% of 3rd graders are proficient in Math versus 66% statewide. The elementary school also has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 52.4% and a higher student-teacher ratio of 21.6:1.
The high school spends significantly more per student ($12,091) than the elementary school ($10,253), yet this higher spending does not translate into uniformly better academic outcomes, raising questions about resource effectiveness. The near-perfect graduation rate at the high school, despite low proficiency in core subjects like Algebra 1 (40%) and Biology 1 (54%), suggests a focus on credit recovery and completion over rigorous academic mastery. Overall, both schools face severe challenges with chronic absenteeism and economic disadvantage, but the high school's ability to graduate nearly all its students stands out as a notable achievement in an otherwise struggling educational environment.
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