Best Public Schools in Zip Code 33971

The seven public schools in zip code 33971 (Lehigh Acres, FL) serve students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and are part of the Lee County School District, a district ranked in the bottom 20% of Florida. The standout school is Harns Marsh Middle School, which is the only school in the area to earn a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger for three consecutive years and boasts exceptional advanced math proficiency, with 90% of students proficient in Algebra 1 and 95% in Geometry. In contrast, Palm Acres Charter High School is the lowest-performing school, with a 19.7% graduation rate and an 88.8% chronic absenteeism rate, while Lehigh Senior High School is the most consistent performer, maintaining a 96.5% graduation rate that far exceeds district and state averages.

Key metrics reveal significant challenges across the area. The average chronic absenteeism rate is 45.7%, well above the state average of 31.4%, with Sunshine Elementary School and Tortuga Preserve Elementary School having the lowest rates among elementary schools at 25.8% and 30.5%, respectively. The average student-teacher ratio is 27.8:1, but this is skewed by Palm Acres' extreme ratio of 68.5:1; excluding that school, the average is a more reasonable 21.1:1. Spending per student varies from $9,597 at Sunshine Elementary to $12,277 at Harns Marsh Middle, with no clear link to performance.

Interesting findings include a striking "Algebra 1 anomaly" where middle schools outperform high schools—Varsity Lakes Middle School has 79% proficiency in Algebra 1 compared to Lehigh Senior's 24%. Both middle schools also show a "7th grade math slump," with only 10-18% proficiency. Harns Marsh Elementary School shows the most improvement, with 5th grade science jumping from 43% to 57% and math from 42% to 62% year-over-year. The two high schools serve different missions: Lehigh Senior is a large traditional school focused on graduation, while Palm Acres is a small alternative charter for at-risk students, explaining the vast graduation rate disparity.