West Glades School, Labelle FL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on West Glades School

West Glades School is a preK-through-eighth-grade public school serving LaBelle, the county seat of Glades County in south-central Florida. It is the kind of school that serves a community where nearly every enrolled family lives within that same small, rural world, with no charter alternative and no nearby suburban district to draw comparisons from. The enrollment sits in the mid-hundreds, which is mid-sized for a school spanning this many grades. Hispanic and white students each make up a large share of the school population, with Hispanic students representing a slight majority. Detailed data on English learner counts and special education rates were not available in the data provided.

Academically, the picture is uneven. Math results are the clearest strength. Third-grade math proficiency on Florida's FAST assessment is strong by any measure, and grades six through eight also show solid math performance. There is a softer stretch in fourth and fifth grade math, something parents of children in those years may want to ask the school about directly. English language arts rates are more consistently modest across the grade span, running roughly in the fifties to mid-sixties for most grades, with eighth grade performing somewhat better than the middle elementary years. Science, tested in fifth and eighth grade, sits around the halfway mark for both. None of the ELA or science figures suggest crisis, but they are not figures to read past without asking how the school identifies and supports students who are not yet meeting grade-level expectations. Multi-year trend data was not available, so whether results are moving up or down cannot be said from this data.

There is a broader context that families weighing this school need to understand. The Glades County School District entered a state-declared financial emergency in 2026 after its general fund balance fell below Florida's minimum required threshold, as publicly reported by WGCU News, WINK News, and Florida Trend. The state appointed a financial emergency board to oversee district spending. Heading into the current school year the district had already cut a substantial number of staff positions and made significant budget reductions, with declining enrollment cited as one driver of the financial pressure. This kind of fiscal instability directly affects staffing levels, program continuity, and day-to-day school operations. Glades County voters will also face a half-cent sales tax ballot measure in November 2026 that, if approved, would direct funds toward facility upgrades, technology, and security over a defined period, with a share also going to any charter schools in the county, according to WGCU News. The outcome of that vote will shape the physical condition of this school for the foreseeable future.

The housing market around LaBelle tells its own story about the community. Home values here sit well below Florida's statewide median and below the national median, making the area among the more affordable in the state. Values have declined modestly year over year. Rents are lower than ownership costs by a meaningful margin, and the estimated monthly housing cost for a buyer represents a relatively accessible burden compared to national norms. For a family relocating, LaBelle offers rural affordability in a region where the broader Florida market remains expensive. Specific locale detail on employers, walkability, or development trends was not returned in the research for this profile, so that picture is incomplete here.

For a family living in Glades County, West Glades is the local public school for this age range, and there is no meaningful comparison set to place it against within the county given the district is the only one. The academic strengths in math, the more mixed ELA and science results, and the serious financial pressures on the district are all real and simultaneous. A parent of a child moving into middle school grades, or one with a student who reads below grade level, would benefit from a direct conversation with the school about how support is delivered given the resource constraints the district is currently navigating.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 382%

School 82% · District 76% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 51% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 69% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 677%

School 77% · District 69% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 67% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median

Grade 868%

School 68% · District 45% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 69% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 60% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 56% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 55%

even with state median

Grade 868%

School 68% · District 48% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Science

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 61% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 38% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

This schoolGLADES, 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-income42%Higher-income77%36 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income71%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income74%34 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income64%Higher-income62%2 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income56%Higher-income54%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income74%Higher-income61%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income75%Higher-income86%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income49%Higher-income60%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income51%Higher-income78%27 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income76%Higher-income77%1 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income71%Higher-income70%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income68%Higher-income68%0 pp gap