Summary:
Zip code 33838 (Dundee, FL) is home to a single high school, Don E Woods Opportunity Center, which serves grades 6 through 12 with a total enrollment of just 82 students. This small, alternative school is part of the Polk school district, a district ranked 61st out of 70 in Florida (13th percentile) with a 1-star rating. The school is designed for a highly at-risk population, and the data reveals a school facing severe challenges, particularly with student attendance and engagement.
The most critical metric for Don E Woods Opportunity Center is its chronic absenteeism rate of 89.8% for the 2023-2024 school year, which is dramatically higher than the district average of 39.1% and the state average of 31.4%. This absenteeism crisis is the root cause of the school's other poor outcomes, including a 0% graduation rate for the same year. The school spends an exceptionally high $30,028 per student—more than three times the national average—likely due to the need for intensive counseling and a very low student-teacher ratio of 7.4:1. However, this high investment has not translated into academic success, with proficiency rates in core subjects like Algebra 1 (8%), Geometry (0%), and 10th Grade ELA (14%) far below district and state averages.
Despite these challenges, there are minor signs of improvement in a few subjects, such as US History proficiency rising from 22% to 29% and 10th Grade ELA from 9% to 14% between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. However, these small gains are overshadowed by the persistent crisis-level absenteeism and the fact that many scores remain in the single digits. For parents, the data indicates that Don E Woods Opportunity Center is a high-cost, low-performing school serving an extremely high-need population, where the primary challenge is not academic instruction but getting students to attend school consistently. The school's performance cannot be fairly compared to traditional high schools; it should be evaluated on its ability to re-engage students and provide a stable, supportive environment.
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