Edgar L. Padgett Elementary, Lakeland FL

Original Research by School Decision on Edgar L. Padgett Elementary

Edgar L. Padgett Elementary is a regular public elementary school in Lakeland, Florida, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It sits within the Polk County school district.

The school draws a racially and ethnically mixed student body. White students make up the largest single group, followed by Hispanic students, then Black students, with smaller numbers of Asian and multiracial children. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this among the more economically disadvantaged schools in terms of that indicator. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs were not available in what we received, so a parent who wants to understand support services in those areas would want to ask the school directly.

On the Florida statewide assessments, proficiency results across third, fourth, and fifth grades tell a mixed picture. Math results are strongest at fourth grade, noticeably weaker at fifth. Reading and ELA scores are below the majority-proficient threshold at every tested grade, holding fairly steady in the low-to-mid forties across third through fifth grade. Fifth-grade science comes in around the mid-forties. These are not strong attainment numbers by statewide standards, and a parent thinking about academic trajectory into middle school may want to have a conversation with the school about how they identify and support students who are not yet proficient. Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether scores have been moving up or down.

Polk County as the comparison universe contains only two districts, which means the neighbor comparison tool does not produce a meaningful position for this school. We left that out rather than draw conclusions from a set too small to be useful.

The neighborhood around the school sits in a housing market where home values are moderately below Florida's statewide median and have edged slightly downward over the past year. Rents have moved in the opposite direction, ticking up modestly. By income-adjusted measures, the area is somewhat more affordable than the Florida average. For families renting, roughly a quarter of income goes toward rent at current typical levels, which is within broadly manageable range though not low.

The locale brief for Lakeland returned no usable detail before the research budget was exhausted, so specific information about neighborhood character, walkability, employers, or civic anchors around the school is not something we can provide. Similarly, no confirmed parent-relevant changes from the Polk district were found in time to include here.

The school serves pre-kindergarten, which means families of younger children have a path into this campus before kindergarten. Special populations or IEP data gaps aside, the program offerings section returned no data, so enrichment programs, after-school options, or specialty curricula are not something the available record speaks to. Those are worth asking the school directly.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 53%

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

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 53% · ▲ 8 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 46% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 50% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 47% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 47% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 45% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

This schoolPOLK, 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-income38%Higher-income51%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income42%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income60%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income47%Higher-income61%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income78%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income56%25 pp gap