Summary:
In zip code 32134, there is a single school, Fort McCoy School, a public PK-8 school serving 931 students in the Marion County district, which is ranked in the bottom 10% of Florida districts.
Fort McCoy School presents a mixed picture. On one hand, it shows notable strength in advanced coursework: 68% of students are proficient in Algebra 1 EOC and 80% in Civics EOC, both exceeding state averages. However, the school struggles significantly in core subjects, with most FAST ELA and Math scores from 3rd to 8th grade falling below state averages. The school's state ranking places it in the bottom 20% of Florida elementary schools, though it has shown some year-over-year improvement in several grade-level math and reading assessments. A critical concern is the 44.3% chronic absenteeism rate, which is far worse than both the district (35.2%) and state (31.4%) averages, and likely a major factor behind the low proficiency rates.
With 68.4% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, the school serves a predominantly low-income community. Spending per student is $12,336, slightly above the national average, and the student-teacher ratio is 16.9:1. The school's structure as a PK-8 institution allows it to offer high school-level courses, creating a "tale of two schools" where advanced students excel while the broader student body struggles. This pattern mirrors challenges within the Marion district itself, which ranks 63rd out of 70 districts in Florida, suggesting systemic issues that extend beyond this single school.
Thank you for your feedback!