Summary:
Zip code 32548 in Fort Walton Beach, FL, is home to seven schools within the highly-rated Okaloosa School District, offering a diverse range of educational options from elementary through high school, including specialized magnet and alternative programs.
The standout school in the area is Northwest Florida Ballet Academie, a magnet middle school that consistently ranks in the top 1% of Florida schools with exceptional test scores and the lowest chronic absenteeism rate among traditional schools. In contrast, the two elementary schools, Elliott Point Elementary School and Annette P. Edwins Elementary School, serve higher-poverty populations and struggle to meet state averages, with both showing chronic absenteeism rates above 32%. Fort Walton Beach High School performs solidly with a 93.5% graduation rate, outperforming the district and state averages, while Max Bruner Junior Middle School falls in the middle of the pack. The alternative schools serve very different populations: Silver Sands-Exceptional Children provides intensive support for students with special needs, reflected in its $59,476 per-student spending and 5.4:1 student-teacher ratio, while Okaloosa Academy faces significant challenges with a 22.9% graduation rate and an alarmingly high 57.5:1 student-teacher ratio.
A key takeaway is that spending does not guarantee performance among traditional schools, as Annette P. Edwins Elementary spends the most per student ($13,181) but ranks lower than Fort Walton Beach High School, which spends the least ($9,708). Chronic absenteeism is a systemic issue, with the average for traditional schools (31.15%) far exceeding the district average of 20.5%. The success of Northwest Florida Ballet Academie highlights how specialized magnet programs can achieve exceptional results, but the data also reveals a stark divide in academic outcomes tied to socioeconomic factors across the zip code.
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