Summary:
Zip code 32901 in Melbourne, Florida, is home to five schools within the Brevard school district, serving elementary through high school grades and presenting a starkly polarized educational landscape.
The standout performer in this area is Melbourne Senior High School, which ranks in the 68th percentile statewide and boasts a 97% graduation rate, the highest in the zip code. In stark contrast, Riverside Charter High School is in crisis, ranking in the bottom 3% of Florida high schools with a 37.3% graduation rate and an extreme 87.7% chronic absenteeism rate. Palm Bay Magnet Senior High School falls in the middle with a 90% graduation rate and a 25th percentile state rank. At the middle school level, Stone Magnet Middle School has a middling overall rank (31st percentile) but shows a unique strength in advanced math, with Algebra 1 and Geometry EOC scores above district and state averages. University Park Elementary School faces significant challenges, ranking in the bottom 5% of elementary schools despite having the highest per-student spending ($14,277) and the highest poverty rate (76.37% free/reduced lunch).
A critical takeaway is that chronic absenteeism is the common denominator for the lowest-performing schools, with University Park Elementary at 41.5% and Riverside Charter at 87.7%. This suggests that getting students into the classroom consistently is the primary barrier to academic success in these schools. The data also reveals a "spending paradox" at University Park Elementary, where high spending does not correlate with high performance, likely due to the profound impact of poverty. Overall, families in zip code 32901 face a choice between high-performing traditional schools like Melbourne Senior High and struggling institutions where socioeconomic challenges and absenteeism are the dominant factors affecting student outcomes.
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