Summary:
In zip code 32909, there is one middle school, Southwest Middle School, serving grades 7 and 8 in Palm Bay, Florida, with a substantial enrollment of 997 students within the Brevard Public Schools district.
Southwest Middle School presents a highly polarized academic profile. It is a standout performer in advanced math, with 87% of students proficient in Algebra 1 and an extraordinary 96% proficient in Geometry—both scores dramatically higher than district and state averages by 24 to 40 percentage points. However, the school struggles significantly in nearly every other subject. In 8th-grade Science, only 37% of students are proficient, far below the district's 57% and state's 52%. Similarly, Civics proficiency sits at 66% (compared to 78% district and 77% state), and both 7th and 8th grade ELA and Math scores fall below district and state averages. This suggests that resources and high-performing students may be heavily concentrated in advanced math tracks, leaving other core areas lagging.
Key challenges include a chronic absenteeism rate of 23.6%, higher than the district average, which likely contributes to below-average performance in core subjects. The school serves a majority-low-income population, with 53.86% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, and spends $10,670 per student. Notably, the school's state rank has been declining over the past three years, from the 35th to the 30th percentile, even as some test scores have improved year-over-year. This paradox indicates that while Southwest Middle School is making progress, other schools across Florida are improving at a faster rate, causing it to lose ground in the rankings.
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