Look at enrollment numbers carefully when considering an elementary school in Polk County, Florida. Student populations vary widely among the 65 different primary schools in the district. Alturas Elementary and Lake Alfred Elementary lead the district's elementary schools with a ratio of 12 students for every teacher. Lakeland's Valleyview Elementary and the elementary schools of Haines' City enroll more than 1,100 students, while Lake Alfred Elementary only has 480 students. Polk's elementary schools exceed Florida's state standards with 65 percent given a performance grade of A or B in academic achievement. Lincoln Avenue Academy, Valleyview, Brigham Academy, Bartow Elem Academy and Wendell Watson have the top five academic ratings in Polk County.
Comparing teacher to student ratios (alternative, charter and special education schools not included) puts Fort Meade's Middle/Senior High School with the best ratio of one teacher for every 12 students. Lake Gibson Middle School, with a total enrollment of 1,140, has the worst ratio with one teacher for every 18 students. The ten top-rated (for academics) public middle schools in Polk County, according to PSK12.com, include: Lawton Chiles, Union Academy, Jewett Middle Academy, Rochelle School of the Arts, Daniel Jenkins, McKeel Academy, Lakeland Highlands, Southwest, Lake Gibson and Denison.
Ranked by "Newsweek" magazine in 2008 as one of the top 1,000 high schools in the United States, Bartow High's International Baccalaureate School has a student population of 1,353. In addition, the Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts was ranked in the top 6 percent of all secondary art schools by New York's Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Lakeland Senior High and Eagle Lake have the highest enrollment with more than 2,000 students each. The ten top-rated high schools in Polk County, based on academics, are: International Baccalaureate, Harrison Center for the Arts, Daniel Jenkins, George Jenkins, McKeel Academy, Lake Gibson, Lake Region, Mulberry, Lakeland Senior and Frostproof Middle/Senior High School (in order of academic ranking), according to the public school rating website PSK12.com.