Original Research by School Decision on Boystown
Boystown is a small alternative school operated within Miami-Dade County Public Schools, located on NW 27th Avenue in Miami. Its listing spans prekindergarten through grade twelve, but the actual enrollment is concentrated in the upper grades, with the large majority of students in tenth and eleventh grade and only scattered enrollment in a handful of other grades. No students are reported in twelfth grade. This grade distribution, and the very small total enrollment, are consistent with an alternative setting that serves a particular student population rather than a conventional full-school pipeline.
The student body is almost entirely Hispanic, with a very small number of Black students and no other racial or ethnic groups represented. Economic data, including free- and reduced-price lunch eligibility, is not reported, so a full picture of the school's economic context is not available. Data on English learner status and students with IEPs are also absent from the record.
State testing results present the same pattern. Both math and ELA scores from Florida's FAST assessments are listed as suppressed for the grades tested, and a science result from several years ago is similarly suppressed. Suppression typically occurs when student counts in a tested group are small enough to trigger state privacy rules. This means no academic performance comparison is possible here. The neighbor comparison against other Miami-Dade County districts also shows all three metrics, overall proficiency, graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism, as not applicable for this school, each marked as missing. A parent interested in academic outcome data will need to ask the school directly what data it can share and what outcomes look like for its graduates.
No program offerings appear in the data. Whether the school offers career pathways, dual enrollment, or specialized supports is not captured in the record available here.
As an alternative school, Boystown sits outside the standard academic metrics framework in ways that go beyond missing data. Alternative schools in Miami-Dade typically serve students who are not well matched to a conventional school setting, whether due to credit recovery needs, personal circumstances, behavioral history, or other factors. The near-absence of students in twelfth grade and the heavy concentration in tenth and eleventh are worth exploring with the school, as is the structure of the academic program and what a student's pathway to graduation looks like.
The surrounding area sits within a large, dense urban city where housing costs are meaningfully above the Florida state median and well above national levels, with rents also running high relative to typical income. Publicly reported figures note that Miami-Dade as a whole has been experiencing enrollment decline, with the district proposing closures and consolidations of multiple schools for the upcoming school year. Families considering a move should be aware that school assignments and grade configurations may shift. A voter-approved property tax measure currently funds teacher pay and school safety across the district, though that measure is set to expire and would require renewal. A statewide cell phone policy is also moving through Florida's legislative process and will affect classroom rules districtwide.
For a family considering Boystown specifically, the most useful next step is a direct conversation with school staff about what the alternative designation means in practice, what the graduation pathway looks like, and what academic and personal supports are available for students in this setting.
See more original research from School Decision →