FLORIDA SCHOOL RANKINGS
School rankings
High Schools (out of 404 high schools)
38 Barron Collier High
70 Gulf Coast High
84 Naples High
227 Palmetto Ridge High
239 Lely High
305 Lorenzo Walker Technical High
363 Golden Gate High
396 Immokalee High
Middle Schools (out of 583 high schools)
35 Marco Island Charter Middle
62 North Naples Middle
67 Oakridge Middle
69 Gulfview Middle
76 Corkscrew Middle
87 Pine Ridge Middle
269 East Naples Middle
400 Cypress Palm Middle
423 Manatee Middle
430 Immokalee Middle
433 Golden Gate Middle
Elementary Schools (out of 1,795)
60 Pelican Marsh Elementary
127 Sea Gate Elementary
294 Vineyards Elementary
392 Laurel Oak Elementary
629 Lake Park Elementary
749 Tommie Barfield Elementary
778 Osceola Elementary
887 Mike Davis Elementary
915 Veterans Memorial Elementary
924 Corkscrew Elementary
995 Big Cypress Elementary
995 Naples Park Elementary
1112 Calusa Park Elementary
1209 Estates Elementary
1228 Poinciana Elementary
1254 Palmetto Elementary
1284 Shadowlawn Elementary
1462 Highlands Elementary
1479 Lely Elementary
1534 Manatee Elementary
1552 Village Oaks Elementary
1577 Immokalee Community School
1613 Sabal Palm Elementary
1686 Avalon Elementary
1699 Eden Park Elementary
1703 Lake Trafford Elementary
1703 Pinecrest Elementary
1708 Golden Terrace Elementary
1743 Parkside Elementary
1752 Golden Gate Elementary
South Lee School Ranking
High Schools
364 South Fort Myers High
132 Estero High
Middle Schools
84 Three Oaks Middle
141 Lexington Middle
155 Bonita Springs Middle
Elementary Schools
156 Three Oaks Elementary
495 Pinewoods Elementary
587 Spring Creek Elementary
843 Rayma C. Page Elementary
1179 Bonita Springs Elementary
1209 San Carlos Park Elementary
Source: Florida Department of Education
www.fldoe.org/Ranking/Schools.
COLLIER COUNTY — There is a large gap — 358 spots — between the highest and lowest achieving high schools in Collier County.
Demographics played a leading role in how schools stacked up in the new Department of Education statewide ranking of elementary, middle and high schools. Not surprisingly, Barron Collier High topped the list at No. 38 out of 404 high schools.
“Any time you rank 400 schools and come out on top, it’s a positive thing,” said Barron Collier Principal Tim Kutz. “But unless you’re sitting at the No. 1 spot, there’s always room for improvement.”
Immokalee High School is ranked No. 396 — eight spots from the bottom of the list.
Behind A school Barron Collier, are Gulf Coast High at No. 70 and Naples High at No. 84. Gulf Coast High and Naples High are both B schools. Immokalee High is a C school.
The numerical ranking is based on Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores, learning gains in reading and math, and learning gains in reading and math among the lowest 25 percent of students in each school.
High Schools also are ranked based on graduation rates, student participation and performance in accelerated coursework, and postsecondary readiness.
This is the second new state ranking as a result of Gov. Rick Scott’s push for a more transparent education system. Last week, the state released a ranking of all school districts. Collier ranks No. 33. Lee ranks No. 22.
“Floridians care about education and it is critical that our students have access to world-class schools that will give them a pathway to a successful career,” Scott said in a press-release. “Measuring each school’s performance helps gauge our progress toward that goal.”
Critics of the school ranking say it further stigmatizes schools based on race and income.
At Immokalee High, 95 percent of students are minorities and 92 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. Before bumping up to a C school in 2010, the school teetered back and forth between a D and F grade.
At Barron Collier High, 26 percent of students are minorities and 24 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. It has been an A or B school for the past 10 years.
Proponents of the ranking say it raises the level of competition among schools and interest from parents and community members.
Kutz acknowledged that most Barron Collier students already are one big step ahead of other district schools — they have highly supportive and engaged parents. He said parents respond to the school’s needs, they come to conferences and support academics.
“That’s the big difference between the top and bottom of the list — the parental support,” he said.
Collier schools Chief Instructional Officer Beth Thompson said the ranking gives schools a better snap shot of where they stand statewide.
“Schools are focused on competing with themselves,” Thompson said, rather than on a school-by-school basis.
Kutz said schools should not view the list as “us versus them.”
“They’re Barron Collier students or they’re Immokalee students,” he said. “But at the end of the day they’re all Collier students ... all Florida students ... all United States students.”
Barron Collier’s closest competition is neighboring Fort Myer’s High School, ranked No. 25.
The three top ranked Collier middle schools are Marco Island Charter (No. 35), North Naples (No. 62), and Oakridge (No. 67.)
The three highest ranked elementary schools are Pelican Marsh (No. 60), Sea Gate (No. 127), and Vineyards (No. 294).
Kutz and Thompson said this list should encourage schools to imitate good practices at higher ranking schools. Despite being No. 38 in the state, Barron Collier still has improvements to make with students who fall in the lowest 25 percent for reading.
“We’ll look at those schools from one to 37 that are similar, that don’t have special programs or center for the arts, and we’ll pick their brains,” he said. “We’ll ask, ‘What are you doing that works? What can we latch onto?’”
For the complete list of school rankings, visit www.fldoe.org/Ranking/Schools.
Collier County arrests 05-23-2012
Collier County arrests 05-22-2012
Editorial Cartoons: May 23, 2012
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 24
John_Galt writes:
We all know that competition brings out the best quality for the lowest price - so why do we subject our kids to an education system with NO COMPETITION? Does this make sense? The worse our school system performs, the more money we reward it with!
Let's end the Department of education and let private businesses take over. This has already happened in post-Katrina New Orleans and the results have been phenomenal - google it!
A free market in teachers would mean that the best teachers are paid like rock stars, and the worst teachers wouldn't be torturing our kids anymore, they'd be doing something else... something they might enjoy or actually be good at.
Time for some Free Market fixes for our education system don't you think?
Vote for people that understand this - Libertarians get it... Ron Paul for example... Peter Richter (Running for State Rep in Naples) and Rob Tolp - also running for state rep in Lee county.
http://www.electRichter.com
lbharkness writes:
Golden Gate High School, which wasn't mentioned in the article, is ranked 363 out of 404, the bottom 10%. Considering all the tax dollars we throw at the system, something needs to change.
anotherPOV writes:
Do you think the socio-economic status of the student body has anything to do with Baron's success or is it all on the teachers? Does a stable home life have anything to do with student success or are Baron's teachers that much better than the other schools? Does a student's migrant lifestyle impact their education or is it all the teachers fault? Does the fact that New Orleans population is down by 30% (many of them the poorest of the poor) impact the success of the education system that rose out the flood waters?
John Galt, you are just as empty an ideologue as Newt Gingrich is.
skiffbug writes:
Wow! Ranked 38th. I would be very upset to find out, if I was the Principal of BCHS, to be ranked 38th. That's nothing to be proud about. It just shows that the system is failing the students.
Beachtowel writes:
Being ranked 38 is like painting a terd gold.
SoldierStrong writes:
bitter hatred from the secluded one...
Sadly You are empty of anything other then hate. Bitter old man.
POC writes:
We had a free market education system before compulsory education. Because of it most people were illiterate.
unBEARable writes:
Seriously, it took me less than 15 minutes to get the data on ALL the Collier county schools. Perhaps our journalists at NDN could do their due diligence and spend the extra 15 minutes to report more accurately!
Barron Collier 38/404
Gulf Coast 70/404
Naples 84/404
Palmetto Ridge 227/404
Lely 239/404
Lorenzo Walker Tech 305/404
Golden Gate 363/404
Immokalee 396/404
Everglades (combined school) 55/55
...and what about recognition for Elementary and Middle Schools?? Here...I'll help....
https://app2.fldoe.org/Ranking/School...
John_Galt writes:
The topic of this post is not all of the problems that affect kids - it's fixing the soviet style education system in this country.
Yes of course all of these other factors have an effect - but - that doesn't mean we let the schools off the hook for failing the kids that DO have a good home life! Our education system was designed to limit the creativity of our population. It was designed to create millions of assembly line workers. (Not that there's anything wrong with assembly line workers - but they clearly do NOT want to create physicists and mathematicians!) There are some outstanding educational systems that have taken the poorest of the poor from the worst neighborhoods and for FAR LESS than the cost of Public Schools, has educated them and gotten 99% of their kids through to enrollment in College. (I suggest you watch the excellent documentary "Waiting for Superman"
The solution to THIS problem is to get government away from our kids - far, far away! When ANY TRUE monopoly is involved, costs go up, and quality goes down. Government is the ONLY TRUE monopoly in the country... well, government and those institutions that it authorizes.
Now if you'd like to discuss how to solve the other problems, I'm happy to do that. If you want to keep families together, stop the government run welfare programs that split up families. Stop the war on drugs that creates a black market with high rewards for illegal behavior, which in turn leads to millions of inner-city kids getting criminal records that precludes them from ever getting decent jobs. Stop the wars that take our young fathers over seas and away from their kids.
You can now apologize for comparing me with Newt! I take offense to that!
John_Galt writes:
Since Newt Gingrich helped start the Federal Department of Education in the 1970s, we've spent over 1 TRILLION dollars on it, just at the federal level, and test scores remain absolutely FLAT. The quality of education has not improved at all. Illiteracy rates have remained unchanged. This is an extremely poor Return on Investment.
redsoxsuk writes:
Beachtowel....you spelled turd wrong
POC writes:
Throwing up stats without even mentioning key variables is useless. Besides, compulsory education started long before the 1970's. Public education is not afforded the luxury of cherry picking its students.
If you are testing more kids than before, especially more underprivileged ones, then flat scores would be progress. Contrastingly, when a large portion of migrant kids stay in Mexico because of the poor economy here increased test scores would probably be an indication of true progress.
My kid goes to Barron and definitely lifted Barron's scores. However, I don't necessarily believe students at Immokalee would have done any better on their tests if they had my son's teachers. Who knows, they may have even done worse?
I guarantee you that if you let a teacher choose their students, then their students will have improved test scores. For instance, 71% of high school drop outs come from fatherless homes. Hold all other factors constant and have one teacher with 150 kids who grow up in their father's household. Compare them to the next teacher with 150 that don't live with their father. Which teacher do you think will have more of their kids graduate???
All of the sudden one teacher looks much better than the next.
Ruger writes:
#35 MARCO ISLAND CHARTER MIDDLE
#60 PELICAN MARSH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
BackcountryBill writes:
The best high school for Math and Science in New York City is Stuyvesant. Entrance to that school is based on test scores. This year, based on test scores, Stuyvesant enrolled 569 Asians, 12 Blacks, 13 Hispanics, and 179 whites.
Could it be that the problem with Collier County is that we don't have enough Asian kids? Can we import some?
leneggs writes:
perfect...why not let the free market take over our roads, bridges, army, navy, air force, marines, coast guard, all libraries, ...what a wonderful world it would be if private companies owned everything......reeeeealy?
leneggs writes:
"For no other profession do so many outsiders refuse to accept the realities of an imperfect world. Crime happens. Fire happens. Illness happens. As for lawyers and coaches, where there’s a winner there must also be a loser. People accept all these realities, until they apply to public education.
If a poverty-stricken, drug-addled meth-cooker burns down his house, suffers third degree burns, and then goes to jail; we don’t blame the police, fire department, doctors, and defense attorneys for his predicament. But if that kid doesn’t graduate high school, it’s clearly the teacher’s fault."
Hug a teacher today.
forge198 writes:
As a Barron grad with ties to the faculty and staff, may I say CONGRATS to you on your hard work. So we're not first in the state... at least we are first in the county. Don't listen to these idiot tolls who have absolutely no life, other than to hurl insults like cowards from behind a computer screen.
SunStar writes:
What happened to Ft Myers High? They used to be in the Top 100 (national list)
dogtiredboss writes:
Let me try to understand this...
Barron is an A rated school - 38 of 404, that makes sense.
NHS is a B rated school - 84 of 404, ok still makes sense.
Lely is a B school - 239 of 404, well...
Golden Gate is a C school - 363 of 404....huh??
Immokalee is a C school - 396 of 404....what???
Example of politically correct grading? Nobody fails?
Collier County Schools - 33 of 67 Is this as good as we can do??
lf_photo writes:
My sentiments also, esp. Immokalee. How is calling a school that is 7th from the bottom a "C" school doing it any favors? It looks like they need some help there. It's also interesting that the primary schools are not at the same level as the high schools, suggesting a remedial role there.
Leopold writes:
With some notable exceptions nationwide, school grade is directly tied to the socioeconomic status of the school catchment area's parents. Barron Collier did what Barron Collier was supposed to do. They are incredibly average given their socioeconomics. Let's see Immokalee HS find its way from 396 into the 200s. Now that would be a story worth covering.
llllll writes:
Can they Pick Tomatoes??
anotherPOV writes:
Your first sentence is garbage; the rest of it is irrelevant to your first post. I will apologize to Newt next time I run into him.
teachone writes:
Congratulations BCHS! With that said….. Let me shed some light on I H S. The teachers at Immokalee High School are some of the hardest working and dedicated teachers in the district! If you don’t believe me, take a drive to I H S and spend a day there, then spend a day at any other high school in Collier. What you will find is that the teachers at I H S TEACH!!!! Please don’t misunderstand me; I am not saying that teachers at other high schools don’t teach. What I am saying is that teachers at I H S don’t have the luxury of getting students that regardless of the quality of instruction and in spite of the teacher, do really well. Other schools do get a great deal of these types of students. At I H S, you will find quality instruction taking place in just about every classroom, if not all! Funny thing…. several high schools in Naples have sent teachers to I H S in order for them to see how certain proven strategies and practices are done.
There are a multitude of reasons as to why I H S is ranked as low as it is. Here are just a few;
1) A great deal of students enter I H S reading extremely below grade level. While the teachers are teaching and the students are learning, you have to consider the starting point of where the students were when they came to us. 2) Majority of the staff at I H S has less than 3 years teaching experience. If you compare the level of experience of I H S teachers and teachers from any other high school in Collier, you will see that there is a huge difference. No one seems to want to do anything to keep teachers in Immokalee therefore, once they are very well trained and have a year or two under their belt, they leave to teach in Naples. 3) If you know anything about what impacts a child’s education, you know that economic status, parental involvement, and having a first language other than English are key factors and teachers have ZERO control of these factors.
I very proudly teach at Immokalee High School and I teach there because I know I am making a difference in the lives of my students. I spend a great deal of time planning my lessons and researching the best way to teach my students. I go to work every day excited about what I am going to teach and how my students are going to “get it”. On my very long drive home, I reflect on how my instruction went, which students need additional support and which students need enrichment. I love teaching students that want better for themselves, students that understand that the only way out of poverty is through education and hard work. I invite anyone to spend a day with me in my classroom at Immokalee High. Only after you have done that and have witnessed what actually takes place at I H S can you speak with genuine authority about the teaching and learning that happens every day at Immokalee High School!
… Oh and by the way, I am not posting this from work, I am home today with a sick child.
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