Summary:
Zip code 34737 (Howey In The Hills, FL) contains only two schools, both alternative schools within the Lake district, serving students from kindergarten through 12th grade with no traditional elementary, middle, or high schools in the area.
Lake Hills School stands out as the higher-performing option, with a graduation rate of 85.7% for the 2024-2025 school year, a low student-to-teacher ratio of 5.3:1, and per-student spending of $56,397. In contrast, Lake Success Academy faces severe challenges, including a 74.1% chronic absenteeism rate and critically low academic proficiency—only 8% of students were proficient in Algebra 1 and 0% in 9th Grade English Language Arts. Despite having even higher per-student spending at $64,258 and a 3.7:1 student-to-teacher ratio, Lake Success Academy's graduation rate was just 40.0% in 2023-2024, highlighting that financial resources alone cannot overcome deep-seated attendance and engagement issues.
Both schools serve economically disadvantaged populations, with 44.12% of Lake Hills students and 53.85% of Lake Success students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. The chronic absenteeism crisis is the most pressing issue, as nearly half of Lake Hills students and three-quarters of Lake Success students are chronically absent, far exceeding the district average of 37.7% and state average of 31.4%. This data suggests that families considering this area should understand that the entire public school population is in alternative settings, likely due to specialized needs, and that addressing attendance is critical for student success at either school.
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