Summary:
Zip code 33880 in Winter Haven, FL, is home to two high schools—Winter Haven Senior High School and New Beginnings High School—serving grades 6-12 and 9-12 respectively, within the Polk school district, which ranks in the 13th percentile statewide.
Winter Haven Senior High School is the clear academic leader in the area, with a 2-star rating and a 94.9% graduation rate that exceeds both the district (87.7%) and state (92.2%) averages. However, it struggles with math proficiency—only 24% of students are proficient in Algebra 1 and 34% in Geometry—and a high 50.4% chronic absenteeism rate, suggesting many students miss significant school time despite eventually graduating. In contrast, New Beginnings High School faces severe challenges: it has a 0-star rating, a 21.7% graduation rate, and critically low proficiency rates across all subjects (e.g., 11% in Algebra 1, 3% in Geometry, and 9% in 10th-grade ELA). Its student-to-teacher ratio of 66.4:1 is extremely high, limiting individualized attention, even though it spends $9,680 per student—$918 more than Winter Haven Senior High’s $8,762.
The most striking finding is the 73-percentage-point gap in graduation rates between the two schools, highlighting a deeply divided educational landscape. While Winter Haven Senior High shows strong overall outcomes despite internal issues like absenteeism and math struggles, New Beginnings High School appears to be in crisis, serving a highly disadvantaged population (77% free/reduced lunch) but failing to provide a basic academic foundation. Parents should note that Winter Haven Senior High offers a more reliable path to graduation, while New Beginnings may require additional support to address its operational and academic shortcomings.
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