Polk Times

The most represented ethnicity among Polk County students was Hispanic, accounting for 41.1% of the student population, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Of the 114,483 students attending Polk County schools, 41.1% were Hispanic. White students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 34% of Polk County students.

In the previous school year, Hispanic students were also the most common ethnicity in Polk County, representing 38.3% of the student body.

Polk Grad Academy had the most even distribution of races among the county schools, including 35.3% white students.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county increased by 3.8% when compared to the previous year.

Florida's choice to stick with in-person classes during the pandemic may have shielded students from significant learning setbacks. A recent Harvard study highlighted that districts heavily reliant on remote learning saw the most significant declines in student achievement amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Interestingly, gaps in math achievement by race and school poverty did not widen in school districts in states such as Texas and Florida and elsewhere that remained largely in-person, said Thomas Kane, professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

School Name	Most Prevalent Ethnicity	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrollment
Achievement Academy	White	44.6%	157
Alta Vista Elementary School	Hispanic	63.6%	769
Alturas Elementary School	White	56%	350
Auburndale Central Elementary School	Hispanic	40.2%	383
Auburndale Senior High School	White	41.4%	1,716
Bartow Elementary Academy	White	52.9%	518
Bartow Middle School	White	46.8%	1,046
Bartow Senior High School	White	44.6%	2,125
Bella Citta Elementary School	Hispanic	61.5%	940
Berkley Accelerated Middle School	White	67.1%	623
Berkley Elementary School	White	71%	696
Bethune Academy	Black	49.8%	428
Bill Duncan Opportunity Center	Black	46.8%	62
Bok Academy	White	43.5%	611
Bridgeprep Academy of Polk	Hispanic	65.4%	422
Carlton Palmore Elementary School	White	47.3%	465
Chain of Lakes Collegiate High School	White	46.7%	328
Chain of Lakes Elementary School	White	38.6%	1,130
Citrus Ridge A. Civics Academy	Hispanic	57.9%	1,457
Clarence Boswell Elementary School	Hispanic	40.6%	636
Cleveland Court Elementary School	White	48.9%	393
Combee Academy of Design and Engineering	White	45.9%	551
Compass Middle Charter School	Hispanic	50.3%	153
Crystal Lake Elementary School	Hispanic	42.3%	409
Crystal Lake Middle School	Hispanic	45.7%	949
Cypress Junction Montessori	White	68.9%	196
Dale R. Fair Babson Park Elementary School	White	73.1%	472
Daniel Jenkins Academy of Technology Middle School	Hispanic	54.5%	516
Davenport Elementary School	Hispanic	64.8%	786
Davenport High School	Hispanic	58%	2,333
Davenport School of the Arts	Hispanic	51%	1,168
Denison Middle School	Hispanic	40.5%	738
Discovery Academy of Lake Alfred	Hispanic	43.6%	911
Discovery High School	Hispanic	47.8%	911
Dixieland Elementary School	Hispanic	42.7%	330
Don E. Woods Opportunity Center	Hispanic	41.1%	56
Doris A. Sanders Learning Center	White	50.6%	87
Dr. Ne Roberts Elementary School	White	43.9%	691
Dundee Elementary Academy	Hispanic	51.2%	653
Dundee Ridge Middle Academy	Hispanic	60.3%	773
Eagle Lake Elementary School	Hispanic	39.2%	697
Eastside Elementary School	Hispanic	70.1%	615
Eckerd Connects	Black	52%	25
Edgar L. Padgett Elementary School	White	36.9%	529
Edward W. Bok Academy North	White	48.6%	615
Elbert Elementary School	Hispanic	36.4%	601
Floral Avenue Elementary School	White	50.3%	611
Fort Meade Middle/Senior High School	Hispanic	49.4%	786
Frank E. Brigham Academy	White	41.1%	564
Fred G. Garner Elementary School	Hispanic	39.1%	901
Fresh Start Community School	Hispanic	53.3%	154
Frostproof Ben Hill Griffin Jr. Elementary School	Hispanic	45%	917
Frostproof Middle/Senior High School	Hispanic	47.1%	1,150
Garden Grove Elementary School	White	39.8%	723
Gause Academy of Leadership	Black	42.7%	96
George W. Jenkins Senior High School	White	48.5%	2,451
Griffin Elementary School	Hispanic	37.5%	379
Haines City Senior High School	Hispanic	59.7%	2,700
Hartridge Academy	White	53.7%	201
Highland City Elementary School	White	50.1%	425
Highlands Grove Elementary School	White	55.7%	731
Hillcrest Elementary School	White	47.9%	662
Horizons Elementary School	Hispanic	64.9%	1,468
Hospital Homebound	White	44.9%	118
Inwood Elementary School	Black	50.7%	298
James E. Stephens Elementary School	Black	47.2%	356
James W. Sikes Elementary School	White	47.8%	563
Janie Howard Wilson School	Hispanic	46.9%	448
Jean O'Dell Learning Center	Hispanic	43.8%	73
Jere L. Stambaugh Middle School	White	39.6%	1,127
Jesse Keen Elementary School	Hispanic	70.3%	649
Jewett Middle Academy Magnet	White	34.8%	584
Jewett School of the Arts	Black	46%	679
John Snively Elementary School	Hispanic	56.6%	399
Karen M. Siegel Academy	Hispanic	39.1%	161
Kathleen Elementary School	White	44.6%	489
Kathleen Middle School	Hispanic	40.6%	821
Kathleen Senior High School	Hispanic	41.4%	2,051
Lake Alfred Elementary School	Hispanic	47.9%	821
Lake Alfred Polytech Academy	Hispanic	44.3%	645
Lake Gibson Middle School	White	43.4%	1,218
Lake Gibson Senior High School	White	40.6%	2,080
Lake Marion Creek Middle School	Hispanic	57.3%	1,044
Lake Region High School	Hispanic	46.7%	1,545
Lake Shipp Elementary School	Black	33.3%	628
Lake Wales Senior High School	White	42.3%	1,586
Lakeland Highlands Middle School	White	51.2%	1,265
Lakeland Montessori Middle School	White	56.7%	30
Lakeland Montessori School House	White	67.3%	110
Lakeland Senior High School	White	42.9%	2,043
Language & Literacy Academy for Learning	Hispanic	41.8%	282
Laurel Elementary School	Hispanic	52.6%	1,058
Lawton Chiles Middle Academy	White	45.9%	649
Lena Vista Elementary School	White	40.3%	975
Lewis Anna Woodbury Elementary School	Hispanic	55.1%	525
Lincoln Avenue Academy	White	42.8%	526
Loughman Oaks Elementary School	Hispanic	60.8%	1,052
Magnolia Montessori Academy	White	59.1%	171
Maynard A. Traviss Technical Academy	Hispanic	45%	140
McKeel Academy Central	White	63.1%	610
McKeel Academy of Technology	White	65.8%	1,727
McLaughlin Middle School and Fine Arts Academy	Hispanic	40.8%	542
Medulla Elementary School	Hispanic	40.4%	515
Mi Escuela Montessori	Hispanic	48%	202
Mulberry Middle School	Hispanic	50.5%	1,200
Mulberry Senior High School	Hispanic	50.6%	1,315
Navigator Academy of Leadership Davenport	Hispanic	74.1%	874
New Beginnings High School	Hispanic	44.2%	753
North Lakeland Elementary School of Choice	Hispanic	42.4%	644
Oscar J. Pope Elementary School	Hispanic	55.9%	410
Pace Center for Girls	White	53.1%	49
Palmetto Elementary School	Hispanic	68.2%	513
Philip O'Brien Elementary School	Hispanic	35.1%	627
Pinewood Elementary School	Hispanic	39.2%	709
Polk Avenue Elementary School	Hispanic	42.4%	531
Polk City Elementary School	White	67%	606
Polk County Sheriff's Central Center	Black	62.1%	29
Polk County Sheriffs Regional Detention Center	Black	35.9%	39
Polk Full Time Eschool	White	42.4%	604
Polk Grad Academy	White	35.3%	34
Polk Halfway House	Black	65.2%	23
Polk Pre-Collegiate Academy	Black	< 10%	16
Polk State College Collegiate High School	White	59.8%	353
Polk State Lakeland Gateway to College Charter High School	White	33.7%	255
Polk Virtual Instruction Program	White	40.5%	42
Purcell Elementary School	Hispanic	49.6%	516
R. Bruce Wagner Elementary School	Hispanic	44%	946
R. Clem Churchwell Elementary School	White	41.2%	708
Real Academy (Reaching Every Adolescent Learner)	Hispanic	40.5%	269
Ridge Community High School	Hispanic	64.6%	2,711
Ridge Technical Academy	Hispanic	47.6%	84
Ridge Teen Parent Program	Black	< 10%	< 10
Ridgeview Global Studies Academy	White	43.3%	1,551
Rochelle School of the Arts	Black	37.4%	803
Roosevelt Academy	Hispanic	46.6%	283
Rosabelle W. Blake Academy	Black	46.1%	642
Sandhill Elementary School	Hispanic	58.8%	991
Scott Lake Elementary School	White	59.6%	727
Shelley S. Boone Middle School	Hispanic	64.4%	1,403
Sleepy Hill Elementary School	Hispanic	44.9%	739
Sleepy Hill Middle School	Hispanic	44.7%	1,090
Socrum Elementary School	White	47.3%	546
South McKeel Academy	White	62%	1,200
Southwest Elementary School	White	37.7%	382
Southwest Middle School	Hispanic	38%	801
Spessard L. Holland Elementary School	White	42.2%	766
Spook Hill Elementary School	White	36.3%	584
Tenoroc High School	Hispanic	39.5%	1,127
Transition School	Hispanic	41.7%	48
Union Academy	White	50.5%	396
Valleyview Elementary School	White	56.9%	861
Victory Ridge Academy	Hispanic	39.9%	298
Wahneta Elementary School	Hispanic	87%	507
Walter Caldwell Elementary School	Hispanic	36.5%	895
Wendell Watson Elementary School	White	53.1%	875
Westwood Middle School	Hispanic	46.6%	878
Willow Oak School	Hispanic	61.6%	905
Winston Academy of Engineering	White	39.5%	506
Winter Haven Senior High School	Hispanic	33.4%	2,467