The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Math. The lowest is 29% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Oak Park Middle School
Oak Park Middle School sits on South Street in Leesburg, serving sixth through eighth graders as a regular public school within Lake County Schools. The school is a moderate size for a middle school serving three grades, drawing students from a city that functions as a regional commerce hub in Central Florida, positioned near the Harris Chain of Lakes, adjacent to the rapidly expanding Villages community, and within reasonable reach of both Orlando and Ocala.
The academic picture, drawn from Florida's FAST assessments and the statewide science exam, shows proficiency rates that fall in the lower range across all three subjects and all tested grades. In math, sixth graders trail the upper grades modestly, with seventh and eighth graders performing somewhat better but still below what most families would consider a comfortable majority of students reaching grade-level benchmarks. Reading and writing scores follow a similar pattern, with seventh grade pulling slightly ahead of sixth and eighth. Science proficiency for eighth graders is the weakest reported figure across any tested subject or grade. There is no multi-year trend data available to determine whether these results are improving, holding steady, or declining, which is something a parent may want to ask the school about directly. No comparison against other Lake County schools was possible from the available data, because Oak Park sits as the only school in its comparison grouping.
A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which is a meaningful piece of context for interpreting these proficiency figures. The school is racially and ethnically diverse, with Black and Hispanic students together making up well over half the enrollment, white students representing roughly a quarter, and the remainder spread across multiple groups. Data on English learner enrollment and students receiving special education services were not reported in the data available here, so families with students in those populations will want to ask the school directly about supports and staffing.
No information on course access, extracurricular programs, discipline rates, or attendance was available in the data provided.
On the district level, Lake County Schools carries some context worth knowing. Voters in 2022 renewed a dedicated school safety property tax, publicly reported as continuing funding for safety officers, nurses, school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and an alternative education academy. County commissioners have since voted to place an expanded version of that measure on the November 2026 ballot, which would add a new increment aimed at teacher pay, recruitment, and retention. If approved, it would take effect in mid-2027. The district has also opened several new schools in recent years, most recently a K-8 campus in Minneola that came with attendance boundary adjustments for parts of the county. Florida's statewide cell phone ban during instructional time applies here as it does across all public schools in the state.
Leesburg itself is a mid-sized city that has served as a regional commerce and employment center for well over a century. The city hosts two colleges and a hospital, and its location near major highway corridors has kept it tied into broader Central Florida growth patterns. Housing in the area is priced below the Florida state average and below national medians, and values have dipped modestly over the past year. Rents have moved slightly upward. The rent-to-income ratio sits near the threshold that housing analysts typically consider stretched, so affordability is present but not uncomplicated.
For families weighing Oak Park, the honest takeaway is that the school serves a population with significant economic need, in a community with real assets and genuine growth pressure around it. The tested proficiency levels are low across the board and should be taken seriously as a signal to explore further, including asking about intervention programs, teacher experience and stability, and what support exists for students who are behind grade level.
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