Enrollment
1,720
Florida · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 120138001347
Choctawhatchee Senior High School — Fort Walton Beach, FL
Federal NCES profile for Choctawhatchee Senior High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 41/100.
👥 Class size 16
📚 AP courses 80
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 14
📋 Attendance 25
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
80.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
21:1
vs 18.3:1 Florida avg
+15% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
47.5%
vs 52.0% Florida avg
-9% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Choctawhatchee Senior High School compares with Florida and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Choctawhatchee Senior High School reports 1,720 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 80.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 21:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 15% above the Florida state mean of 18.3:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 32% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 47.5% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 9% below the Florida average and 8% below the national baseline. The school offers 16 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 430 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 30.2% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Okaloosa spends $12,274 per pupil district-wide, below the Florida average of $12,756 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 43.0% from local sources (property taxes), 37.4% from the state, and 19.6% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 41/100 (D), calculated from 5 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Choctawhatchee Senior High School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Florida state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Florida | Florida avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 21:1 | ▲ 15% | 18.3:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 47.5% | ▼ 9% | 52.0% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 1,720 | top 94% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
47.5%
free-lunch eligible
— 9% below the Florida average of 52.0%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
21:1
students per teacher
— 15% above state mean
Top 82% in Florida — lower ratio than 18% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
30.2%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$12,274
per pupil, district-wide
— below Florida avg of $12,756
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors4.0 FTE
Per 430 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
205
in-school suspensions + 73 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 11.9 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 16.2 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 15 expulsions.
Overview
Enrollment 1,720 Top 94% in Florida — larger than 6% of 4,029 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 80.0
Students per teacher 21:1 +15% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 47.5% -9% vs state
NCES ID 120138001347
Student demographics
White 50.8%
Hispanic or Latino 23.6%
African American 12.0%
Two or More 10.3%
Asian 2.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.4%
Largest group: White at 50.8% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 16
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 4.0
Students per counselor 430:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 30.2%
In-school suspensions 205
Out-of-school suspensions 73
Expulsions 15
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Okaloosa, which includes Choctawhatchee Senior High School.
$12,274
Per student
-4%
vs Florida
Avg $12,756
-37%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 43.0%
State 37.4%
Federal 19.6%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 2,376
- Students per teacher
- 23.2:1
- Enrollment
- 2,036
- Students per teacher
- 23.4:1
- Enrollment
- 1,550
- Students per teacher
- 20.3:1
- Enrollment
- 1,434
- Students per teacher
- 17.1:1
- Enrollment
- 1,111
- Students per teacher
- 20.9:1
Similar high schools in Fort Walton Beach
1 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Choctawhatchee Senior High School
How many students attend Choctawhatchee Senior High School?
Choctawhatchee Senior High School has 1,720 students enrolled. It is a high school in FORT WALTON BEACH, FL.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Choctawhatchee Senior High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Choctawhatchee Senior High School is 21:1, which is 15% higher than the Florida average of 18.3:1 and 32% higher than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Choctawhatchee Senior High School?
47.5% of students at Choctawhatchee Senior High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Florida average of 52.0%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Choctawhatchee Senior High School?
The largest demographic group at Choctawhatchee Senior High School is White at 50.8%. The school serves a diverse student body in FORT WALTON BEACH, FL.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Choctawhatchee Senior High School?
Choctawhatchee Senior High School has a Resource Investment Index of 41/100 (D) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.