Summary:
In zip code 33183, three middle schools (grades 6-8) serve the Miami area, offering a diverse range of academic environments from a top-tier charter to a large traditional public school, all within the Miami-Dade school district.
Archimedean Middle Conservatory is the standout academic powerhouse, ranking in the top 2% of Florida middle schools with nearly all test scores in the 90th percentile. It boasts the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (9.0%) and the smallest student-teacher ratio (15.6:1) in the area. In contrast, Howard D. McMillan Middle School is the largest school (957 students) and serves as a consistent performer, meeting or exceeding district and state averages, particularly excelling in advanced coursework like Algebra 1 and Biology 1 (95-100% proficiency). Academir Charter School Middle presents a more complex profile: despite having the highest poverty rate (79.26% free/reduced lunch) and highest chronic absenteeism (21.5%), it achieves strong results in ELA and advanced math, but struggles significantly in 8th-grade Science (24% proficient).
Key takeaways include that spending does not equal performance—McMillan spends the most per student ($13,221) but has the lowest academic results and largest class sizes, while Archimedean spends less ($12,001) and achieves dramatically better outcomes. All three schools show an "advanced course anomaly," with exceptionally high proficiency in end-of-course exams (91%+ in Algebra 1) likely due to selective student cohorts. Chronic absenteeism emerges as a critical differentiator, with Archimedean's low rate correlating with its top performance, while Academir's high rate highlights systemic challenges. The 8th-grade Science gap is a notable weakness for McMillan (54%) and Academir (24%), falling below the state average (52%).
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