Enrollment
898
Florida · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 120159008515 Charter school
Discovery High School — Lake Alfred, FL
Federal NCES profile for Discovery High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 35/100.
👥 Class size 19
📚 AP courses 40
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 40
📋 Attendance 4
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)
45.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
20.2:1
vs 18.3:1 Florida avg
+10% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
65.8%
vs 52.0% Florida avg
+27% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Discovery 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
Discovery High School reports 898 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 45.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 20.2:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 10% 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 27% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 65.8% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 27% above the Florida average and 27% above the national baseline. The school offers 8 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 299 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 38.5% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Polk spends $12,580 per pupil district-wide, below the Florida average of $12,756 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 35.2% from local sources (property taxes), 43.8% from the state, and 21.0% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 35/100 (F), 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 Discovery 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 | 20.2:1 | ▲ 10% | 18.3:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 65.8% | ▲ 27% | 52.0% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 898 | top 76% | — | — |
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
65.8%
free-lunch eligible
— 27% above the Florida average of 52.0%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
20.2:1
students per teacher
— 10% above state mean
Top 78% in Florida — lower ratio than 22% of state schools
Above 20:1 — larger class loads than the typical U.S. public school; staffing is stretched relative to enrollment.
Engagement
38.5%
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
$12,580
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
Counselors3.0 FTE
Per 299 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 898 Top 76% in Florida — larger than 24% of 4,029 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 45.0
Students per teacher 20.2:1 +10% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 65.8% +27% vs state
NCES ID 120159008515
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 54.3%
White 21.7%
African American 20.6%
Two or More 2.0%
Asian 0.8%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.1%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 54.3% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 8
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 3.0
Students per counselor 299:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 38.5%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 1
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Polk, which includes Discovery High School.
$12,580
Per student
-1%
vs Florida
Avg $12,756
-35%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 35.2%
State 43.8%
Federal 21.0%
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
- 3,105
- Students per teacher
- 20.5:1
- Enrollment
- 2,731
- Students per teacher
- 27.4:1
- Enrollment
- 2,648
- Students per teacher
- 21.3:1
- Enrollment
- 2,632
- Students per teacher
- 23.4:1
- Enrollment
- 2,469
- Students per teacher
- 22.5:1
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 Discovery High School
How many students attend Discovery High School?
Discovery High School has 898 students enrolled. It is a high school in LAKE ALFRED, FL.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Discovery High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Discovery High School is 20.2:1, which is 10% higher than the Florida average of 18.3:1 and 27% higher than the national average of 15.9:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Discovery High School?
65.8% of students at Discovery High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Florida average of 52.0%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Discovery High School?
The largest demographic group at Discovery High School is Hispanic or Latino at 54.3%. The school serves a diverse student body in LAKE ALFRED, FL.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Discovery High School?
Discovery High School has a Resource Investment Index of 35/100 (F) 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.