The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Math. The lowest is 54% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Woodlawn Elementary School
Woodlawn Elementary sits on Woodlawn Drive in Sebring, Florida, serving children from kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the Highlands County district. Pre-kindergarten is listed as part of the grade band but shows no enrolled students in the current data. The school carries a sizable enrollment for an elementary campus.
The student population is racially and ethnically mixed. White students form the largest group, followed by Hispanic students and Black students, with smaller numbers of Asian, multiracial, and Pacific Islander children. The economic picture is the most defining characteristic of the student body: a very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this well above what would be typical for a Florida elementary school. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs were not available in the materials provided.
On Florida's FAST assessments in the most recent school year, Woodlawn's third graders showed the strongest math performance, with rates that could reasonably be described as solid within a Florida context. Fourth and fifth grade math results were somewhat lower but still showed most tested students reaching proficiency. Reading tells a different story: ELA proficiency across third, fourth, and fifth grade clustered in the low-to-mid range, with roughly half or just over half of students in each grade reaching the proficiency bar. Fifth grade science results were comparable to upper-grade math. Taken together, math is the relative strength here, while ELA results are an area a parent may want to explore further with the school, asking specifically what reading intervention or enrichment supports are in place. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to characterize whether these numbers are improving, stable, or declining.
Because Woodlawn ends at fifth grade, there is no graduation rate and no advanced coursework at this campus. Those metrics simply do not apply at this level.
The comparison framework for Highlands County has only one district in it, so the data does not produce a meaningful peer comparison for positioning Woodlawn against similar schools. That gap is a function of the county's geography rather than anything about the school itself.
Sebring, the city where Woodlawn is located, has a distinct small-city character built around its planned circular downtown. The historic core, centered on Circle Park with Lake Jackson at its edge, concentrates shops, the public library, a little theatre, and an art museum within a walkable few blocks. Away from downtown, the city runs along US Highway 27 in the auto-dependent pattern common to central Florida. The major employers in the county are the school district itself, AdventHealth, retail chains, local government, and South Florida State College, with healthcare and public-sector jobs dominating the local economy. Sebring has been publicly reported as a city in a notable growth phase, with new residential subdivisions and permit activity rising sharply in recent years, and Realtor.com analysis ranked it among faster-appreciating markets nationally over the past several years. Even so, home values here sit well below the Florida state average, and by the affordability metrics in the data, mortgage costs and rents remain lower relative to income than in much of the state.
Two district-level developments are worth knowing. Highlands County voters approved a half-cent sales tax dedicated to student safety and school facilities, overseen by a citizen advisory committee, which provides a locally controlled funding stream outside normal state allocations. Running in the opposite direction, the district is publicly reported to be cutting a substantial number of positions in response to declining state funding, a trend attributed in news coverage to state dollars moving toward private-school vouchers. That budget pressure is a system-wide reality that parents of students at any Highlands County school, including Woodlawn, should watch as it plays out.
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