Bridgeprep Academy of Polk, Miami FL

Original Research by School Decision on Bridgeprep Academy of Polk

BridgePrep Academy of Polk is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade, operating under the Polk County district umbrella but physically located in Miami at an address in the SW 72nd Street corridor. That geographic detail matters to any family researching this school: though it carries a Polk County identifier in state records, it sits in Miami, a large and dense urban city where daily life is shaped by a layered transit network, walkable neighborhoods, and a mix of commercial and residential uses that varies considerably block by block.

The student body is moderately sized for a K-8 school and is predominantly Hispanic, with Black and white students making up most of the remainder. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that most families here are navigating real economic constraints. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs were not available in what was provided, so families of children with those designations will want to ask the school directly about its support structures.

On Florida's statewide assessments, the picture is mixed and leans below the middle. In the earlier elementary grades, ELA proficiency is roughly around half of students meeting the standard, which is a meaningful baseline. Math runs somewhat lower in those same grades. The drop is more pronounced as students move into middle school: sixth and eighth grade math results fall well below what most families would hope for, and seventh and eighth grade ELA results follow a similar downward pattern. Science scores at fifth grade are near half of students proficient, while the eighth grade science result falls noticeably lower. Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from this payload whether these numbers are improving, holding steady, or declining. A parent who wants to understand what the school is doing to move those middle-grade numbers should ask that question directly.

No multi-year trend data was available for comparison, and the comparison framework placed this school within Polk County's district set, which is a small cohort, making proficiency index comparisons inapplicable under the methodology used. What can be said plainly is that these results, taken as a snapshot, sit in territory that warrants a conversation with the school about instructional approach and student support, particularly for the middle grades.

Program offerings in the data are thin. An Art Club is the one listed extracurricular activity. No AP, dual enrollment, or career pathway programs apply here given the grade band, and a graduation rate is not relevant because the school does not serve high school grades. Beyond the Art Club, the school's full program offerings were not available in what was provided; the school's own website would be the place to look.

The Miami neighborhood context means families are choosing into an urban environment with strong walkability, a public transit system that includes elevated rail and a free downtown people mover, and a job market anchored by government, health care, education, and tourism. Home prices in the zip code run well above the Florida state average and substantially above the national median, and rents reflect a market that has remained elevated even as broader county population trends have shown some softening recently, publicly reported as tied in part to an immigration slowdown.

The Polk district brief turned up no parent-relevant policy or programming changes to report; that search found nothing confirmable before the available research was exhausted.

For a family weighing this school, the core questions are practical ones: What explains the gap between the elementary ELA results and the weaker middle-grade outcomes, and what is the school's plan to close it? What student supports exist for children who are learning English or receiving special education services? And does the school's charter model offer anything programmatically beyond what the data here shows? Those are questions the school itself needs to answer.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 53% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 53% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 46% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 50% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 33% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 37% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 50% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 47% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 47% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 53% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 738%

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

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

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 44% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Science

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 45% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 36% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 2 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 3Lower-income61%Higher-income44%17 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income63%Higher-income29%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income54%Higher-income36%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income44%3 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income43%Higher-income23%19 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income34%Higher-income47%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income39%0 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income29%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income54%Higher-income27%27 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income20%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income40%Higher-income54%14 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income34%Higher-income56%22 pp gap