NCES CCD 2024-25 11 schools FL

Best-Resourced Schools in Defuniak Springs, FL

11 public K-12 schools in Defuniak Springs from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

11
Schools
4,007
Students
35.3/100
Avg Resource Index
15.8:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Lean reported-resource profile

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Defuniak Springs has more public-school enrollment than 44% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Defuniak Springs's average Resource Investment Index falls in the lower portion of the 4,487-city comparison set. The index is a resource snapshot, not an academic grade: it reflects the federal staffing, counselor, gifted-program, and attendance fields available for local campuses. The most useful next step is to open the individual schools below and identify which component is pulling each score down, because the same city average can hide very different campus-level constraints.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

7 of Defuniak Springs's 11 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 44-point gap between Walton Virtual Franchise and Walton Learning Center shows the range hidden by Defuniak Springs's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.

City enrollment
Top 56%
School count
Top 35%
Resource Index average
26th percentile
Teacher staffing
45th percentile

Walton High School accounts for 24.2% of all Defuniak Springs public-school enrollment

That concentration means Defuniak Springs-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Defuniak Springs school enrollment varies 323× across entities

Defuniak Springs school enrollment ranges from 3 students (lowest) to 969 students (highest), a spread of 966 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Defuniak Springs reports 68.2% free-lunch eligibility

The reported share sits between 62.5% and 75%, above a simple majority but below the highest descriptive band used here. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Defuniak Springs operates one school district — a single-district system

Defuniak Springs's listed schools share one district boundary, budget authority, and reporting chain. That makes citywide and districtwide governance easier to compare, but it does not make individual campuses uniform: grade configuration, staffing, programs, and student need can still vary materially within the same school district.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Defuniak Springs student-teacher ratio is 15.8:1 — near the typical range (US average ~15.7) — citywide staffing is neither unusually lean nor unusually crowded by this measure

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Variation between sub-units within Defuniak Springs is typically wider than the Defuniak Springs-aggregate figure suggests.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. Walton Virtual Franchise 70
2. Walton Initiative for Success in Education (Wise) 41
3. West Defuniak Elementary School 38
4. Walton Middle School 33
5. Walton High School 31
6. Maude Saunders Elementary School 31
7. Walton Academy Inc. 30
8. Walton Virtual School Wcsd 30
9. Walton County Jail Program 30
10. Mossy Head School 28
11. Walton Learning Center 26

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Defuniak Springs

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 Maude Saunders Elementary School 62.5/100
  2. 2 West Defuniak Elementary School 59.3/100
  3. 3 Walton Academy Inc. 55.3/100
  4. 4 Walton Middle School 54.7/100
  5. 5 Walton Initiative for Success in Education (Wise) 54.0/100

What do families ask about schools in Defuniak Springs?

Which Defuniak Springs school has the highest Resource Investment Index?

Walton Virtual Franchise has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Defuniak Springs schools in this federal-data comparison at 70/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Defuniak Springs, FL?

Defuniak Springs has 11 public schools with a total enrollment of 4,007 students. 1 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 15.8:1.

Other Cities in Florida

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Florida →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.