Rising Leaders Academy, Panama City FL

Original Research by School Decision on Rising Leaders Academy

Rising Leaders Academy is a charter school on Lincoln Avenue in Panama City, Florida, serving kindergarten through twelfth grade. The enrollment is small relative to what you would expect for a full K-12 school, and the grade distribution tells its own story: the elementary grades are well-populated, the middle school grades are thinner, and the high school grades above ninth are very sparse. A parent considering this school for high school should ask directly about the depth of programming, peer cohort size, and staffing at those grade levels, since the data suggests the upper-secondary program is still quite limited in scale.

On academic performance, the picture is genuinely mixed and worth reading carefully. Math proficiency in the lower elementary grades is strong, with the third and fourth grade results placing most students at proficiency on Florida's FAST assessment. Fifth grade math holds up reasonably well. The transition to middle school introduces a notable drop in sixth grade math, though seventh grade recovers well and the eighth grade result was suppressed, meaning the state did not release it, likely due to the small number of students tested. ELA tells a more uneven story: third grade reading proficiency is well below half of students, a weak result worth raising with the school. Fourth and sixth through eighth grade ELA results are considerably stronger, and seventh grade ELA came in at full proficiency, though that grade band enrolls very few students, so that figure reflects a small group. Fifth grade ELA sits in the mid-range. Science proficiency at fifth grade is low, while the eighth grade science result is strong. The overall pattern is one of real inconsistency across grade levels, with some grades performing well and others showing genuine gaps. A parent would be wise to ask the school how it monitors and addresses grade-to-grade variation.

The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with white students forming a majority, Black and Hispanic students each representing meaningful shares, and smaller populations of Asian and multiracial students. Fewer than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is on the lower end of economic disadvantage relative to many Florida charter schools. Data on students with IEPs and English learners was not available in what was provided, so a family with those needs should ask the school directly.

No information on AP courses, dual-enrollment, career pathways, graduation rate, or discipline data was available. The comparison framework for Bay County flagged that the cohort was too small for a meaningful proficiency index comparison, so the school cannot be placed relative to county peers on that measure. The district brief for Bay County did not surface any parent-relevant recent changes.

Panama City itself gives this school a particular backdrop. The city is mid-sized and still working through a redevelopment phase tied in part to hurricane recovery. The economy leans heavily on military installations, with Tyndall Air Force Base and Naval Support Activity Panama City as anchors, and healthcare and hospitality rounding out the private sector. The downtown along Harrison Avenue completed a multi-year streetscape project in late 2025 and has a walkable core with restaurants, a marina, and arts venues. The St. Andrews historic district adds a separate neighborhood-scale commercial and waterfront area. The housing market near the school shows values modestly below the Florida statewide median and slightly below the national median, with home values essentially flat year-over-year. Rents have edged up slightly. The rent-to-income ratio sits at a level that is not extreme by national standards, and the price-to-income ratio on ownership is moderate.

Rising Leaders Academy may suit families drawn to a smaller charter setting with a diverse peer group and a K-12 span, but the thin high school enrollment and the inconsistency in test results across grade levels are things any family should probe before enrolling, particularly at the elementary and high school ends of the building.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

Not publicly reportedCohort of 2 students · Class of 2021

The federal source does not publish a graduation rate for cohorts this small. The cohort size is shown for context.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

867 schools plotted. 183 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 386%

School 86% · District 59% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 65% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 578%

School 78% · District 51% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 666%

School 66% · District 60% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 779%

School 79% · District 50% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 53% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 480%

School 80% · District 60% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 51% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 679%

School 79% · District 61% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 7100%

School 100% · District 57% · ▲ 43 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 884%

School 84% · District 55% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 53% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 884%

School 84% · District 52% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

This schoolBAY, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income47%Higher-income48%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income71%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income75%Higher-income82%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income80%Higher-income91%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income80%Higher-income76%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income50%Higher-income77%27 pp gap