Summary:
In zip code 32177, there is one high school, Palatka Junior - Senior High School, which serves grades 7 through 12 and has a total enrollment of 1,568 students in the Palatka area.
Palatka Junior - Senior High School has received a 1-star rating from Schooldigger for the past three years and is part of the Putnam school district, which ranks 62nd out of 70 districts in Florida. The school's most notable positive metric is its graduation rate of 95.1%, which exceeds the state average of 92.2%. However, academic proficiency is a significant concern, with only 13% of 7th graders proficient in math and just 23% proficient in Geometry. The school's strongest subjects are Civics (61% proficient) and US History (54% proficient), though both remain well below state averages. A critical issue is the chronic absenteeism rate of 62.9%, which is more than double the state average of 31.4% and likely a major factor driving low test scores.
There is a notable disconnect between the high graduation rate and low academic proficiency, suggesting that students may be progressing to graduation without meeting grade-level standards. The school spends $10,492 per student and has a student-teacher ratio of 23:1, which is relatively high and may limit individualized attention. While the school underperforms the state, it is often on par with or slightly better than the Putnam district in several metrics, indicating that these challenges reflect broader systemic issues. Year-over-year improvements in Algebra 1 (+6 points) and 8th Grade Math (+9 points) offer some positive trends, though Biology 1 proficiency dropped significantly (-8 points).
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