Summary:
In zip code 33180, there is one middle school, Highland Oaks Middle School, serving grades 6 through 8 with 736 students in the Miami area.
Highland Oaks Middle School presents a stark contrast between its advanced and standard programs. The school is a standout in advanced coursework, with 97% of students proficient in Biology 1 and 81% proficient in Algebra 1 on end-of-course exams, dramatically outperforming the Miami-Dade district and state averages. However, this success does not extend to standard grade-level assessments, where the school consistently underperforms. For example, only 35% of 6th graders were proficient in math, compared to 67% district-wide. The school has a 2-star state ranking, placing it in the 40th-45th percentile over the last three years, and a critical red flag is its 41% chronic absenteeism rate, which is significantly worse than the district (28.2%) and state (31.4%) averages.
Key findings include a broad decline in proficiency across most subjects from 2024-2025 to 2025-2026, and a notable "8th grade slump" where ELA proficiency drops from 69% in 7th grade to 57% in 8th grade. The school spends $11,383 per student with a 21:1 student-teacher ratio, and 40.62% of students are economically disadvantaged. The high chronic absenteeism rate is likely a major factor in the school's poor standard assessment performance, creating a school of stark contrasts where advanced students thrive while the general student body struggles.
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