Lincoln Park Academy, Fort Pierce FL

Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln Park Academy

Lincoln Park Academy sits on Avenue I in Fort Pierce, the county seat of St. Lucie County, and serves grades six through twelve as a regular public school within the St. Lucie district. The grade span is unusual enough to be worth noting upfront: a student can enter as a sixth grader and stay through senior year without changing schools, which creates a long runway for relationships, extracurriculars, and a consistent academic culture. Enrollment is substantial for a school covering that range, with students spread fairly evenly from middle school into high school grades, tapering slightly by the upper grades as is typical.

The student body is racially and ethnically mixed. Black students make up the largest share, followed by Hispanic students, then white students, with smaller Asian and multiracial populations. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning economic diversity is real but the school is not predominantly low-income by typical thresholds. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided, so families with students in those populations will want to ask the school directly about service levels and support structures.

On Florida's FAST assessments, the most recent results show a pattern worth understanding clearly. In ELA, sixth graders score well above half proficient, and eighth graders not far behind. Seventh grade ELA and seventh grade math both sit below the midpoint. Eighth grade math is the strongest single result in the data, and sixth grade math sits just above half. Science at eighth grade comes in around the middle. None of these are alarming numbers for a school serving a mixed-income urban population, and the eighth grade results suggest students can make real gains through the middle years. At the same time, the seventh grade dip in both subjects is something a parent may want to raise with the school to understand what's happening in that transitional year.

No multi-year trend data was available, so it isn't possible to say whether scores are improving, holding steady, or declining. The comparison framework for St. Lucie County has only one district in it, which means there is no meaningful peer-district comparison to offer here.

Graduation rate data was not reported in what was provided. A parent of a prospective high schooler should ask the school or district for its four-year graduation rate, as well as for information on AP course offerings, dual enrollment with Indian River State College, and any career pathway programs. The school's programs section in the data provided was empty, so specifics on those pathways are a gap.

Fort Pierce itself is a coastal city with Old Florida character, a working waterfront, a pedestrian-scaled historic downtown with galleries and locally owned restaurants, and a Saturday farmers market near the marina. It is not a suburb; it has a distinct urban identity rooted in fishing, civic life on the Indian River Lagoon, and a community that has been here a long time. A major downtown redevelopment project at the former power plant site is working its way through construction phases, with some phases now pushed toward 2029. Publicly reported coverage notes that some longtime residents have raised affordability concerns about that development.

Home values in the zip code are well below both the state and national medians, and values have declined year over year. Rents have also dipped slightly. The gap between a mortgage payment and renting is modest, which is relevant for families weighing whether to buy. The rent-to-income ratio is at the threshold that housing economists consider stretched, so renters should factor that into their budget planning.

At the district level, families should know that St. Lucie voters renewed a one-mill operating property tax through 2027, funding teacher pay, a school resource officer on every campus, and mental health services, with another renewal expected before voters in 2026. A separate capital sales tax was extended in 2024 to fund new construction. The district is growing fast and opened its first new high school in nearly a generation in 2025, with a new K-8 scheduled for 2026. That growth context is centered on the Tradition and Port St. Lucie areas rather than Fort Pierce, so Lincoln Park Academy's attendance zone is less directly affected, but district-wide resource decisions flow from the same growth pressures.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=95%Cohort of 196 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

867 schools plotted. 183 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 58% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 749%

School 49% · District 39% · ▲ 10 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 62% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 669%

School 69% · District 60% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 758%

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

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

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 52% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 49% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

This schoolST. LUCIE, 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-income67%Higher-income74%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income52%Higher-income72%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income58%Higher-income69%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income66%18 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income47%Higher-income57%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income56%Higher-income79%22 pp gap