NCES CCD 2024-25 6 schools FL

Best-Resourced Schools in Panama City Beach, FL

Compiled from official source data by PlainSchools. · Updated August 2026

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

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Schools

4,894

Students

32.7/100

Avg Resource Index

18.7:1

Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Compact, single-district system

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Panama City Beach has more public-school enrollment than 54% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Panama City Beach's 6 listed schools all sit inside one district, creating a compact governance structure with one budget, board, and reporting chain. That makes citywide comparisons cleaner than in places split across several districts, but it does not make the campuses interchangeable: elementary, middle, and high-school staffing needs differ. The ranked list is best read as variation inside one system rather than competition among separate local authorities.

A full K–12 ladder sits inside the city boundary

Panama City Beach's list includes 2 elementary, 1 middle, and 1 high-school campus, plus 2 combined-grade records. The city average spans every major grade stage, so the ranked table is more informative when read within level than as one interchangeable queue.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 20-point gap between Patronis Elementary School and J.R. Arnold High School shows the range hidden by Panama City Beach'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 46%
School count: Top 79%
Resource Index average: 18th percentile
Teacher staffing: 22nd percentile

J.R. Arnold High School accounts for 33.3% of all Panama City Beach public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Panama City Beach-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 Accessed 2026-08-26

Panama City Beach school enrollment varies 4.5× across entities

Panama City Beach school enrollment ranges from 362 students (lowest) to 1,629 students (highest), a spread of 1,267 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. 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 Accessed 2026-08-26

Panama City Beach operates one school district — a single-district system

Panama City Beach'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 Accessed 2026-08-26

Panama City Beach student-teacher ratio is 18.7:1 — high (typically associated with larger urban scale or staffing constraints that have widened the headcount gap)

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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe Accessed 2026-08-26

#	School	Score	Enrollment	Level	District
1.	Patronis Elementary School	41	589	elementary	Bay
2.	Surfside Middle School	38	755	middle	Bay
3.	Breakfast Point Academy	35	1,089	Combined	Bay
4.	West Bay Elementary School	31	362	elementary	Bay
5.	A. Gary Walsingham Academy	30	470	Combined	Bay
6.	J.R. Arnold High School	21	1,629	high	Bay

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Panama City Beach

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.

What do families ask about schools in Panama City Beach?

Which Panama City Beach school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Patronis Elementary School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Panama City Beach schools in this federal-data comparison at 41/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Panama City Beach, FL? ▼

Panama City Beach has 6 public schools with a total enrollment of 4,894 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 18.7:1.

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.