Other / mixed grade configuration · Apopka, FL

Dream Lake Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Dream Lake Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 32/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 120144001392
0/100100/10032/100
👥 S:T ratio
39
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
0
📋 Attendance
20
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Dream Lake Elementary earns 32/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Florida median.

#5 of 10
schools in Apopka · Resource Index
32
Resource Index · Typical
15.3:1
students per teacher
59.7%
free-lunch eligible

Dream Lake Elementary has class sizes near the Florida median. Computed live against every Florida school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Dream Lake Elementary ranks #5 of 10 schools in Apopka, FL.

School address

Enrollment

674

Florida · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

44.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

15.3:1

vs 17.8:1 Florida avg

-14% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

59.7%

vs 52.0% Florida avg

+15% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Dream Lake Elementary compares with Florida and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Dream Lake Elementary

Dream Lake Elementary is a higher-need, mid-sized combined-grade school in Apopka, Florida, enrolling 674 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 15.3:1 puts it in the smaller third of Florida schools by student-teacher ratio.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 59.7% lands close to the Florida typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

With 674 students, its enrollment sits close to the Florida median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 3,996 scored Florida schools.

Against 1,059 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #581.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (50%) and African American (28%) (diversity index 65/100).

Counselor access is stretched at roughly 674 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 32.0% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Its district draws 18.0% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Orange also operates Apopka High (3,446 students) and Timber Creek High (3,383 students) alongside Dream Lake Elementary.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Dream Lake Elementary compares

Dream Lake Elementary on the metrics families compare, against Florida and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Florida Florida avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 15.3:1 ▼ 14% 17.8:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 59.7% ▲ 15% 52.0% 51.7%
Enrollment 674 top 42% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

15.3:1
Leaner classes than 44% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
674
Bigger than 79% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
59.7%
free-lunch eligible - 15% 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
15.3:1
students per teacher - 14% below state mean
Top 37% in Florida - lower ratio than 63% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
32.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$11,578
per pupil, district-wide - above Florida avg of $11,167
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 674 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
10
in-school suspensions + 6 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.4 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

Hispanic or Latino 49.9%
African American 27.7%
White 15.9%
Two or More 4.6%
Asian 1.6%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.3%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 49.9% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 64.7/100

Simpson diversity index - at 64.7, Dream Lake Elementary is more mixed than the Florida school average of 52.3.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Orange, which includes Dream Lake Elementary.

$11,578
Per student
+4%
vs Florida
Avg $11,167
-30%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 53.2%
State 28.8%
Federal 18.0%

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.

How Dream Lake Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Apopka High Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Timber Creek High Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Winter Park High Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Colonial High Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Windermere High Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Dream Lake Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Orange · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Florida, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Dream Lake Elementary's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Dream Lake Elementary

How many students attend Dream Lake Elementary?

Dream Lake Elementary has 674 students enrolled. It is a public school in Apopka, FL.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Dream Lake Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Dream Lake Elementary is 15.3:1, which is 14% lower than the Florida average of 17.8:1 and 3% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Dream Lake Elementary?

59.7% of students at Dream Lake Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Florida average of 52.0%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Dream Lake Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Dream Lake Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 49.9% of enrollment, in Apopka, FL. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 64.7/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Dream Lake Elementary?

Dream Lake Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 32/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Dream Lake Elementary rank among schools in Apopka?

By Resource Investment Index, Dream Lake Elementary ranks #5 of 10 schools in Apopka, FL. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Apopka on the city page.

Is Dream Lake Elementary a good school?

Dream Lake Elementary earns 32/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Florida median. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Orange?

Besides Dream Lake Elementary, Orange also operates Apopka High (3,446 students), Timber Creek High (3,383 students), and Winter Park High (3,277 students). See the Orange district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.