Bellalago Charter Academy, Kissimmee FL

Original Research by School Decision on Bellalago Charter Academy

Bellalago Charter Academy is a public charter school in Kissimmee, Florida, serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade under the Osceola County school district. Its address on Pleasant Hill Road places it in the southern residential reaches of Kissimmee, away from the historic downtown and the tourist corridor along the western edge of the city. The school draws a large enrollment for a PK-8 campus, and its student body is majority Hispanic, with a substantial Black student population and a smaller share of white and multiracial students. Close to half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on English learner and special education populations were not available in the materials provided.

On the most recent Florida state assessments, the academic picture is mixed and worth a parent's close attention. In reading, results hold fairly steadily across the middle grades, with roughly half to just over three-fifths of students reaching proficiency depending on the grade. Math tells a more uneven story: third and fourth grade results sit in a moderately solid range, fifth grade drops noticeably below that, and seventh grade shows a sharp decline to well under a quarter of students proficient. Eighth grade math recovers to a mid-range level. Science proficiency at fifth grade came in at roughly two-fifths, while eighth grade science was somewhat stronger, at just over half. These are Florida FAST assessment results from the most recent school year. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether performance is improving, holding, or declining. A parent thinking about upper-elementary and middle math in particular may want to ask the school directly about intervention supports and how it approaches students who fall behind.

No information was provided about specific academic programs, electives, dual enrollment, or extracurricular offerings. The comparison data in the materials was not applicable for this school, as Osceola County has only one district represented in the county set, making peer comparisons unavailable. A graduation rate does not apply here because the school does not serve high school grades.

The neighborhood context matters for families choosing where to live. Kissimmee is a city in genuine growth, adding master-planned residential communities alongside continued downtown investment. Publicly reported sources describe the city as one of Central Florida's faster-growing markets. The housing market near the school's zip code has seen home values slip modestly year-over-year, landing close to the statewide median, and rents have edged slightly upward. Rental costs as a share of income run high enough that affordability is a real consideration for working families. The local economy is shaped by tourism employment tied to the Disney World corridor, healthcare anchored at Osceola Regional Medical Center, and some legacy ranching. A SunRail commuter station in downtown Kissimmee connects to the broader Orlando metro.

For day-to-day life, Kissimmee's historic downtown along Broadway is genuinely walkable and has a distinct character, with independent restaurants, murals, and a waterfront at Lake Tohopekaliga. The southwestern commercial corridor is car-dependent and functions differently. The school sits on Pleasant Hill Road closer to the residential southern part of the city, where newer subdivision-style development is more common. A planned downtown streetscape redesign, publicly reported as the Connect Kissimmee project, will eventually add bike lanes and wider sidewalks, but that work has not yet transformed the broader commuting environment.

The district brief search did not return parent-relevant changes before the research budget was exhausted, so there is nothing from that source to report here.

What this school offers is a PK-8 charter pathway in a growing, diverse part of Kissimmee, with middle-grades reading and science results that are moderate by state standards and math outcomes that vary enough by grade level to warrant a closer conversation with the school about what students in specific grades are experiencing.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 54% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 49% · ▲ 12 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 42% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 49% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 38% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 52% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 51% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 47% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 48% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 52% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 49% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 49% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Science

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 46% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 43% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

This schoolOSCEOLA, 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-income50%Higher-income50%0 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income54%Higher-income49%5 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income66%22 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income56%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income47%Higher-income54%8 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income54%Higher-income71%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income54%Higher-income66%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income60%Higher-income62%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income56%26 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income58%9 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income15%Higher-income25%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income52%Higher-income57%5 pp gap