Belmont Academy, Lake City FL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Belmont Academy

Belmont Academy is a charter school in Lake City, Florida, serving prekindergarten through grade twelve on a single campus along SW Walter Avenue. As a public charter, it operates independently from the Columbia County district's traditional schools while remaining subject to Florida state accountability measures and, publicly reported, sharing in the district's half-cent sales surtax revenues approved by county voters.

The academic picture is one of the clearest strengths in this profile. On Florida's FAST assessments, math proficiency rates across tested grades from third through seventh are consistently high, with fifth grade reaching near-universal proficiency and the other tested grades clustered solidly above the majority of Florida schools by any reasonable read of the data. Eighth-grade math results were suppressed by the state, meaning the tested group was small enough to trigger privacy rules, so no conclusion can be drawn there. ELA tells a more varied story: third grade is genuinely strong, sixth grade is solid, but fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth grades land in a middle range that is respectable but not at the same level as the math scores. Science proficiency in fifth grade is strong; eighth-grade science was also suppressed. Trend data across years was not available in this dataset, so whether these scores have been rising, falling, or holding steady cannot be said. A parent who wants to understand trajectory should ask the school directly.

The grade span, prekindergarten through twelve, means a family enrolling a young child could theoretically stay through high school graduation. What the high school pathway looks like in terms of AP, dual enrollment, or career coursework is not in the data provided, and the programs section reflects only four extracurricular clubs: Chess Club, HOSA (a health-sciences student organization), National Honor Society, and Robotics. That is a limited window into what the school offers at the upper grades, and a parent evaluating options for a high schooler would want to ask about course offerings beyond what appears here.

The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up roughly a tenth of enrollment and Black students a smaller share. Multiracial students represent a meaningful portion as well. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is lower than many traditional public schools in North Florida. IEP and English learner rates were not available in this dataset; families of students with disabilities or English language needs should ask specifically about the school's service capacity and staffing for those populations.

The school sits in Lake City, which is Columbia County's seat and the commercial and governmental center of a largely rural stretch of North Florida. The city has a small-town, Southern character anchored by a walkable historic downtown around Lake DeSoto and Marion Avenue, with local restaurants, a brewery, and older commercial buildings. Beyond downtown, the community is car-dependent, spreading across residential subdivisions, highway commercial corridors near I-75, and outlying rural land. Major employers publicly reported include HCA Florida Lake City Hospital, Florida Gateway College, Anderson Columbia Co., and various government and retail operations. The housing market here is notably more affordable than the Florida state average, with home values running well below the statewide midpoint and modestly below the national level as well. Year-over-year appreciation has been slight, and new single-family construction remains active, suggesting a market that has room for families relocating from higher-cost metros.

The Columbia County district, Belmont Academy's authorizing entity, has been moving through a significant facilities overhaul funded by the sales surtax, including consolidating older elementary schools into new buildings. Publicly reported district documents indicate charter schools share in those surtax revenues, which may affect Belmont Academy's own facilities over time, though the specific implications for this campus were not in the data.

Graduation rate data was not available for Belmont Academy in this dataset. A parent evaluating the school for a student approaching high school should ask about four-year graduation outcomes and what postsecondary pathways graduates have followed.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=80%Cohort of 16 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

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 67% · ▲ 19 pts above district

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

Grade 483%

School 83% · District 63% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 597%

School 97% · District 60% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 693%

School 93% · District 58% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median

Grade 786%

School 86% · District 64% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 390%

School 90% · District 57% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 472%

School 72% · District 51% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

Grade 578%

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

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 687%

School 87% · District 59% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median

Grade 779%

School 79% · District 56% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median

Grade 877%

School 77% · District 50% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

Science

Grade 581%

School 81% · District 50% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

This schoolCOLUMBIA, 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-income83%Higher-income96%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income65%Higher-income77%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income66%Higher-income87%21 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income74%Higher-income93%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income79%Higher-income78%1 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income66%Higher-income89%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income83%Higher-income89%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income77%Higher-income87%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income97%Higher-income97%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income84%Higher-income98%13 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income82%Higher-income90%8 pp gap