Summary:
Zip code 32442 is home to a single school, Grand Ridge School, a middle school serving grades 5 through 8 with 359 students in the Jackson County school district.
Grand Ridge School presents a mixed picture of performance. The school excels in its upper grades, with 8th graders achieving a 74% proficiency rate in English Language Arts and 63% in Science in the 2025-2026 school year, both well above district and state averages. The school is also a standout in advanced math, with Algebra 1 End-of-Course exam proficiency rates of 68% and 70% over the last two years, consistently outperforming the district and state. However, the school faces significant challenges. Chronic absenteeism is alarmingly high at 50.4%, far exceeding the state average of 31.4%. Additionally, performance in the lower grades is a concern, with 5th and 6th graders consistently scoring below state averages in both math and reading. The school's state ranking has slipped from the 53rd percentile to the 49th percentile, and its star rating dropped from 3 stars to 2 stars in the most recent year.
Key metrics show a student-teacher ratio of 14:1 and per-student spending of $11,585, with 50.7% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The stark contrast between strong 8th-grade and Algebra 1 results and the struggles in 5th and 6th grades suggests the school may be more effective at developing students over time, though the high absenteeism rate likely impacts all grade levels. The school's success in advanced math is a notable bright spot, even as general math proficiency in the middle grades remains mixed.
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