Summary:
Zip code 34104 in Naples, Florida, is home to two middle schools within the highly-ranked Collier County School District, serving grades 6-8 at East Naples Middle School and grades 3-8 at New Beginnings - Naples, offering a stark contrast in size, resources, and academic performance.
East Naples Middle School is the standout traditional option, enrolling 875 students and showing a steady improvement in its state ranking, now in the 68th percentile. It excels in advanced math, with 91% of students proficient in Algebra 1 and 81% of 8th graders proficient in math—both well above state averages. In contrast, New Beginnings - Naples is a small alternative school with only 37 students and a very low student-teacher ratio of 6.1:1, spending $44,130 per student—over three times more than East Naples. Despite these resources, its academic outcomes are significantly lower, with a state ranking that has declined to the 20th percentile, and proficiency rates in core subjects like 6th-grade ELA (33%) and math (43%) trailing far behind district and state averages.
Key takeaways include that East Naples Middle School is on an upward trajectory, particularly in math, while New Beginnings - Naples faces challenges likely tied to serving a high-needs population, as reflected in its high spending and chronic absenteeism rate of 22.9%. Both schools have chronic absenteeism above the district average of 17.4%, and Civics proficiency is a weakness for both, with East Naples at 70% and New Beginnings at 46%. Due to its tiny enrollment, New Beginnings' test scores can fluctuate dramatically year-to-year, so parents should interpret its data with caution. Overall, East Naples Middle School is the clear choice for strong academics in this area.
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