The top reported proficiency rate is 73% in Math. The lowest is 65% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Altoona School
Altoona School sits on State Road 19 in one of the more rural corners of Lake County, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as a charter school. The community itself is car-dependent and low-density, shaped more by the Ocala National Forest to the north and equestrian ranches along the highway than by any walkable town center. Publicly reported information describes housing stock that skews older, with daily errands drawing families toward Umatilla and Eustis rather than anything within the community itself. For families moving to the area, the school is a local anchor in a place with few of them.
The school serves a relatively small number of students for an elementary school, grades kindergarten through five spread across six grade levels with fairly even cohorts throughout. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic character of the surrounding rural area. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful share of Hispanic students and a smaller multiracial group. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in the materials provided, so parents with children in those categories would want to ask the school directly about services.
On Florida's FAST assessments, the school's math results are a real strength. Fifth graders show the highest proficiency of the tested grades, and third-grade math is also solidly above what many families would expect for a school in a high-poverty rural setting. Fourth-grade math is modestly lower but still competes well. In ELA the picture is more mixed. Third and fifth graders land in a range that many families would find adequate, but fourth-grade reading proficiency drops noticeably below the other grades, which is worth asking the school about directly. The fifth-grade science result on the Florida Statewide Science Assessment is comparable to the math results at that grade level. No trend data across multiple years was available, so it is not possible to say whether scores have been rising or falling.
Because the comparison data for this school within Lake County was not usable for ranking purposes, the school cannot be positioned against neighboring district schools with the comparisons available. What the FAST results do show on their own is a school where math instruction appears to be working well and where reading, particularly in fourth grade, may warrant a closer look.
The local housing market is meaningfully below the Florida statewide median and below the national median, which makes the area more accessible to buyers on a modest income than most of greater Orlando. Year-over-year values have been essentially flat, slightly down, while the statewide figure has pulled back more. Rental cost data for this specific ZIP code was not available.
At the district level, Lake County voters in 2022 renewed a school-safety property tax that funds safety officers, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and counselors across district schools. Publicly reported information indicates that Lake County commissioners have placed an additional millage measure on the November 2026 ballot to fund teacher pay and continued safety and mental health services; if passed, it would take effect in summer 2027. Families considering this school in the near term would be buying into a community where that vote is pending. Separately, a Florida law that took effect for the 2024-25 school year bans student cell phone use during instructional time in all public schools statewide, a policy change that is now part of the classroom environment at Altoona School.
Programmatically, the school offers a 4-H Club and a STEM Club. No broader program information, such as enrichment pathways or specialized instruction, was in the data available.
For a family relocating to this stretch of Lake County, Altoona School is the local option, and its math results suggest it is doing real academic work in a rural, high-poverty setting. The fourth-grade ELA gap and the absence of IEP and English-learner data are the two areas where a parent would want to have a direct conversation with school staff before drawing conclusions.
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