Compass Middle Charter School, Bartow FL

Original Research by School Decision on Compass Middle Charter School

Compass Middle Charter School is a small alternative charter school in Bartow, Florida, serving grades five through eight. Its enrollment is modest for its grade band, and its student body reflects the community around it: a mix of Hispanic, Black, and white students, with a substantial majority qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on English learner rates and special education participation was not available in the information provided.

As an alternative school, Compass Middle sits outside the typical comparison framework. The neighbor comparison set for Polk County's districts could not produce a meaningful proficiency ranking for this school, and that is worth understanding before reading the assessment results below.

The FAST assessment scores from the most recent school year are low across every grade and subject. In math, proficiency rates decline from fifth grade through eighth, with eighth graders reaching only a very small fraction of students scoring proficient. ELA results follow a similar pattern, with sixth grade showing the highest rate among the four grades but still well below state norms. Science proficiency at both tested grade levels is very low. These numbers are stated plainly because parents deserve to see them, and a parent considering this school would be well-served to ask the school directly about its academic support model, how it tracks student progress, and what outcomes look like for students who complete the program. For context, alternative school classifications in Florida often reflect a student population that has faced disruptions, learning gaps, or other circumstances that standard proficiency snapshots do not fully capture. That context does not change the numbers, but it shapes how to read them.

No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether results are improving, holding, or declining. No information on course offerings, graduation supports, staffing ratios, or attendance was included in the data provided, so those dimensions of the school's program cannot be characterized here. Because Compass serves only through eighth grade, graduation rate data does not apply.

The school is located on Clower Street in Bartow, the Polk County seat. Bartow is a small city with a historic commercial downtown anchored by the county courthouse, tree-lined residential streets with older housing stock, and newer subdivisions pushing outward from the edges. Government is by far the dominant employer, with the Polk County School Board, county offices, and the sheriff's department among the largest workplaces in the city. Phosphate processing through Mosaic remains a significant industrial presence west of town. The Fort Fraser Trail connects Bartow to Lakeland for cyclists and walkers, and the Bartow Public Library serves as a community gathering point.

The local housing market, based on the zip code serving the school, sits below both the Florida statewide median and the national median home value. Values have dipped slightly year over year. Rents have risen modestly. The rent-to-income ratio sits at a manageable level relative to national benchmarks, and the gap between estimated monthly mortgage costs and prevailing rents is narrower here than in many Florida markets, which is relevant for families weighing ownership. Bartow is in an active growth phase, with large planned residential developments in discussion or under construction on the city's edges, though at least one large proposal was rejected by city commissioners in early 2026 amid concerns about infrastructure capacity.

No strategic priorities or recent parent-relevant changes from the Polk district were found in the research conducted for this profile, so that section was left out.

Compass Middle is a school with a specific population and purpose that the alternative designation signals. Families considering it are likely doing so for reasons that go beyond what proficiency data alone can address. The school's own staff and administrators are the right source for understanding what the program offers, how it serves students who have struggled elsewhere, and what the pathway forward looks like.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 46% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 616%

School 16% · District 50% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 710%

School 10% · District 33% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 37% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 47 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 47% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 53% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 46% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 44% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Science

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 45% · ▼ 37 pts below district

▼ 45 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 36% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below 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 6Lower-income27%Higher-income40%13 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income20%Higher-income20%0 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income15%Higher-income20%5 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income3%Higher-income30%27 pp gap