West Gadsden Middle School, Quincy FL

Original Research by School Decision on West Gadsden Middle School

West Gadsden Middle School sits on Providence Road in Quincy, Florida, serving grades four through eight. It is a regular public school within the Gadsden district, which covers Florida's only majority-Black county. The school is not a charter or magnet program.

The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with a very small share of white and multiracial students. The vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this one of the higher-poverty school populations you will find anywhere in the state. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in the source material, so those figures are left out rather than estimated.

On Florida's FAST assessments, proficiency rates across tested grades are low across the board and well below state norms. In math, fourth-graders score roughly in the upper thirties as a share proficient, but middle grades drop noticeably, with seventh-grade math proficiency sitting in the mid-teens. Eighth-grade math recovers somewhat but remains modest. Reading and ELA follow a similar arc: fourth grade reaches the low thirties, fifth and sixth grade fall into the mid-to-upper twenties or lower, and the pattern does not climb meaningfully through eighth grade. Science proficiency at fifth grade is in the low twenties; at eighth grade it drops to single digits, which is the weakest result in the dataset and something a parent would want to ask the school about directly. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether these results are improving, flat, or declining.

The comparison data for Gadsden County could not be used to position the school against peers because only one district operates in the county, making a meaningful within-county comparison inapplicable.

No program offerings data was provided, so AP, dual enrollment, elective breadth, and any specialized tracks are not described here. The district brief search did not turn up confirmed parent-relevant changes, so that is left out as well.

Quincy itself is a small rural city, the county seat of Gadsden County and part of the Tallahassee metro area. Publicly reported sources describe it as a place shaped by agriculture, particularly shade-tobacco farming, with a well-known local history tied to early Coca-Cola investment. The downtown historic district, roughly thirty-six blocks around the courthouse square, contains the Gadsden Arts Center, the Quincy Music Theatre, and Tanyard Creek Park, a sizable green space with trails and an amphitheater. Beyond the historic core the city is strongly car-dependent. Major employers in the county lean heavily public-sector, with the Florida State Hospital in nearby Chattahoochee serving as the county's largest single employer.

Housing costs here are meaningfully below both state and national medians, and recent data shows a slight year-over-year decline in home values. The affordability picture is relatively accessible compared to much of Florida. Publicly reported sources indicate the city is seeing a modest development push after years of flat population, including new apartment construction and retail additions, though growth is also placing pressure on aging infrastructure.

For a family weighing this school, the core facts are these: it serves a high-poverty, predominantly Black and Hispanic student population in grades four through eight; assessed proficiency levels are low across subjects and grades, with eighth-grade science standing out as an area of particular concern; and program and support-services data were not available, leaving important questions about what the school offers beyond the tested curriculum. A parent would be well-served by asking the school directly about intervention programs, academic supports, extracurriculars, and what pathways exist to prepare students for high school.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 44% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 35% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 33% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median

Grade 717%

School 17% · District 41% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 36% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 10 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 434%

School 34% · District 36% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 36% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median

Grade 622%

School 22% · District 30% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median

Grade 732%

School 32% · District 40% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 35% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median

Science

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 25% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median

Grade 88%

School 8% · District 8%

▼ 38 pts below state median

This schoolGADSDEN, 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 4Lower-income34%Higher-income33%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income17%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income18%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income33%7 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income28%Higher-income8%19 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income0%29 pp gap