Summary:
In zip code 33404, there is one middle school, John F. Kennedy Middle School, serving grades 6 through 8 in Riviera Beach, Florida, with a total enrollment of 821 students. This school is part of the Palm Beach school district, which holds a 3-star rating and ranks in the 53rd percentile statewide. The school has a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (66.63%), and it spends $14,672 per student with a student-teacher ratio of 16.4 to 1.
John F. Kennedy Middle School is a school of stark contrasts. It dramatically outperforms both the district and state in advanced math courses, with 88% proficiency in Algebra 1 and 85% in Geometry End-of-Course exams. However, it consistently underperforms in core FAST assessments for English Language Arts and Math, often falling 10-20 percentage points below district and state averages. A notable anomaly is the 8th-grade FAST Math proficiency, which jumped from 39% in 2024-2025 to 78% in 2025-2026, far exceeding the state average. The school also struggles in Civics (58% vs. 77% state) and 8th Grade Science (39% vs. 52% state).
Despite low academic performance, the school has a remarkably low chronic absenteeism rate of 12.0%, compared to 23.4% for the district and 31.4% for the state, indicating strong student attendance. The school has consistently ranked in the bottom 20-26th percentile statewide over the last three years, earning a 1-star rating each year. This combination of high spending, low absenteeism, and low test scores suggests that the core challenge lies in instructional effectiveness rather than student engagement. The school's success in advanced math for a select group of students highlights a "two-tiered" system that could be replicated across other subjects to improve overall outcomes.
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