Summary:
This analysis examines four elementary schools in zip code 33935 (Labelle, FL), serving grades Pre-K through 5 (with one school extending to 8th grade), and split between the Hendry and Glades school districts.
The standout school is West Glades School, which is the clear academic leader. It ranks in the 80th percentile statewide (457th out of 2,240 schools) with a 4-star rating, dramatically outperforming the other three schools that all rank in the bottom 40%. West Glades belongs to the high-performing Glades district (ranked 16th out of 70 districts), while the three Hendry County schools—Country Oaks Elementary School, Edward A. Upthegrove Elementary, and Labelle Elementary School—belong to a district ranked 59th out of 70 (1 star). The most improved school is Labelle Elementary, which jumped from a 0-star rating (2,069th place) to a 3-star rating (944th place) in just two years, a remarkable turnaround. Country Oaks is the largest school with 935 students but struggles with a 34.3% chronic absenteeism rate, higher than the state average.
Key metrics reveal a stark district divide: per-student spending does not correlate with performance, as the highest-spending school (Labelle at $13,485 per student) is outperformed by the lowest-spending school (Country Oaks at $9,932). Chronic absenteeism is a major challenge for all three Hendry schools, with rates from 32.2% to 37.4%, while West Glades has a much lower rate of 23.5%. Labelle Elementary's turnaround is the most hopeful data point, proving that improvement is possible even with high poverty (64.13% free/reduced lunch) and high absenteeism, suggesting effective leadership can overcome significant obstacles.
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