Summary:
Zip code 34748 in Leesburg, Florida, is served by two public middle schools, Carver Middle School and Oak Park Middle School, both part of the Lake County school district, which holds a 3-star rating and ranks 32nd out of 70 districts in Florida.
When comparing the two schools, Carver Middle School emerges as the higher-performing option. It ranks 882nd out of 1,216 schools statewide (27th percentile), significantly ahead of Oak Park Middle School, which ranks 1066th (12th percentile). Carver also boasts higher average proficiency rates in English Language Arts (47.3% vs. 41.0%) and Math (49.3% vs. 33.7%), and it outperforms Oak Park in 7 out of 10 core test categories. With 737 students compared to Oak Park's 558, Carver is the larger and more popular school. Both schools have similar per-student spending (around $11,700) and student-teacher ratios (16.1 at Carver, 18.0 at Oak Park), suggesting that resource allocation does not explain the performance gap.
The most critical issue for both schools is a crisis of chronic absenteeism, with rates of 51.4% at Carver and 53.0% at Oak Park—far exceeding the district average of 37.7% and the state average of 31.4%. This likely drives their low overall rankings. However, a standout finding is that both schools excel in advanced math programs: Carver Middle School achieved a 95% proficiency rate in Geometry, and Oak Park Middle School achieved a perfect 100% proficiency rate in Geometry, far above state averages. This indicates that while general instruction struggles, high-achieving students in advanced courses receive exceptional support. Parents should note that test scores can be volatile year-over-year, particularly at Oak Park, where Algebra 1 proficiency dropped from 87% to 45% between school years.
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