Summary:
Zip code 32459 in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, is home to two high schools serving grades 9-12 within the Walton County School District: South Walton High School and Seaside Neighborhood School, the latter of which also serves grades 5-8.
Seaside Neighborhood School is the standout performer, ranking in the top 4% of Florida high schools (30th out of 838) with a 5-star rating. It achieves exceptional test scores, including 100% proficiency in Civics and 7th Grade Math, and a 98% proficiency in Biology 1. Its graduation rate is a perfect 100%, and chronic absenteeism is remarkably low at just 2.7%. In contrast, South Walton High School is a strong 4-star school, ranking in the top 20% statewide (157th out of 838). It serves a larger, more diverse student body of 1,127 students, with a 100% graduation rate and a chronic absenteeism rate of 12.4%—still far better than the district (24.3%) and state (31.4%) averages. South Walton excels in US History (89%) and Biology 1 (85%), but shows a weakness in 9th Grade English Language Arts (58%), which is below the state average.
A key difference is socioeconomic profile: Seaside Neighborhood School has a free/reduced lunch rate of just 3.19%, while South Walton High School’s rate is 20.41%. Despite serving a more challenging demographic, South Walton spends $645 more per student ($12,252 vs. $11,607), suggesting Seaside’s results stem from its educational model and student advantages rather than higher funding. Overall, both schools are excellent choices, with Seaside offering elite, consistent performance across all grades, and South Walton providing a solid, well-rounded education with room for improvement in early high school English.
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