Summary:
The 12 schools in West Palm Beach's 33407 zip code, part of the Palm Beach County School District, serve a diverse range of students from elementary through high school, including alternative programs, and reveal a stark divide in academic performance and resources.
The standout school is Bak Middle School Of The Arts, a magnet school ranking in the top 1% of Florida middle schools with near-perfect test scores and a low chronic absenteeism rate of 5.8%. In stark contrast, Believers Academy is the lowest-performing high school, with a 55.6% graduation rate and a 62.3% chronic absenteeism rate, the highest in the zip code. The average free/reduced lunch rate across the area is 60.7%, but this ranges from just 19.74% at Bak Middle to 90.16% at Pleasant City Elementary School. Per-student spending also varies wildly, with alternative schools like Palm Beach Regional Detention Center spending $20,415 per student yet achieving a 0% graduation rate, while top-performing Bak Middle spends a below-average $13,313 per student.
Chronic absenteeism is a powerful predictor of performance, with the lowest-performing schools having the highest rates. Two similar elementary schools, Northboro Elementary School and Northmore Elementary School, share comparable enrollment and poverty levels, yet Northboro is a 3-star school that is improving, while Northmore is a 1-star school in decline, suggesting that factors like school leadership and teaching quality drive outcomes beyond just poverty. Overall, the zip code presents a two-tiered system where a high-performing magnet school coexists with struggling neighborhood schools, and higher spending does not guarantee better results.
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