Learning Lodge Academy, New Port Richey FL

Original Research by School Decision on Learning Lodge Academy

Learning Lodge Academy is a charter school on Little Road in New Port Richey, serving kindergarten through eighth grade within the Pasco County school district. It is a small school by any measure, with enrollment concentrated heavily in the earliest grades and thinning out considerably by middle school, a pattern worth noting for families of older children who value a larger peer group heading into those years.

The school draws a student body that is majority white, with Hispanic students making up a meaningful share and smaller numbers of Black and multiracial students. A clear majority of enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a community with significant economic need. Data on students with IEPs or English learner designations was not available in the records we reviewed, so families with children in those categories may want to ask the school directly about support services.

On state assessments, the picture is genuinely mixed and varies quite a bit by grade and subject. In math, the upper elementary grades test at solid levels, and seventh grade in particular posts a strong result. The transition points, fifth and sixth grade, sit in a more moderate range. Eighth-grade math results were suppressed, likely because the group is small enough that the state withholds the data. In reading and language arts, there is a wide spread: fourth and sixth grade results are reasonably strong, sixth grade notably so, but third grade and eighth grade come in well below what most parents would hope for. That third-grade reading result in particular is worth a conversation with the school, since early literacy is a foundation everything else builds on. Science was assessed at fifth and eighth grade; fifth grade came in below the midpoint, while eighth grade was above it. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these numbers are improving, stable, or declining.

No information on programs, course offerings, or extracurriculars was included in what we received. A graduation rate does not apply here, since the school does not serve high school grades. Staffing ratios, attendance figures, and discipline data were also absent.

The school sits in a part of New Port Richey served by the Regency Park library branch on Little Road, which is close by. The broader city has a walkable historic downtown along the Cotee River with civic anchors like Sims Park, though the Little Road corridor itself is suburban and car-dependent. Publicly reported information describes downtown New Port Richey as going through a sustained commercial revitalization, earning Main Street America accreditation in 2026, and new residential construction is underway at the city's edges with completion expected in 2027.

On housing, values in the immediate zip code have come down modestly compared to the prior year, and rents have also softened, putting the area somewhat more accessible than it was at the peak. Home prices here sit below the Florida statewide median and are close to the national figure. Renters paying near the current typical rent are spending roughly three-tenths of income on housing costs, which tracks with national norms.

At the district level, Pasco County voters approved a property-tax referendum in 2022 to fund teacher and staff salaries, and that levy runs through mid-2027 with a renewal on the November 2026 ballot. Teacher vacancies across the district have fallen sharply since the referendum passed. A separate one-cent sales tax renewal, approved in 2022, funds school construction and renovations, relevant context given the county's growth pressures. Most of that growth pressure is concentrated in east Pasco around Wesley Chapel, not in New Port Richey, so boundary disruptions and school-opening churn are more a concern for families in that corridor than for those near Learning Lodge.

For families considering this school, the charter setting and K-8 span offer continuity from kindergarten through middle school in one place, which some families find appealing. The academic results are uneven enough across grade levels that parents would be well served by asking what the school does specifically at the grade levels where proficiency is lower, and how it tracks student progress year over year.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 58% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 49% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 52% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 57% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 786%

School 86% · District 48% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 57% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 54% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 53% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 682%

School 82% · District 59% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 769%

School 69% · District 57% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 52% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Science

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 49% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 47% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

This schoolPASCO, 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-income37%Higher-income50%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income64%Higher-income60%4 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income47%Higher-income75%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income63%Higher-income75%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income55%Higher-income80%26 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income47%Higher-income75%28 pp gap