Enrollment
840
Florida · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 120003000032
Fort Clarke Middle School — Gainesville, FL
Federal NCES profile for Fort Clarke Middle School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 29/100.
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 16
📋 Attendance 0
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.
Free-lunch eligible
48.2%
vs 52.0% Florida avg
-7% vs state
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
Fort Clarke Middle School reports 840 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 48.2% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 7% below the Florida average and 7% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 420 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 43.6% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Alachua spends $12,950 per pupil district-wide, above the Florida average of $12,756 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 44.3% from local sources (property taxes), 36.3% from the state, and 19.4% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 29/100 (F), calculated from 3 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 Fort Clarke Middle 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free-lunch eligible | 48.2% | ▼ 7% | 52.0% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 840 | top 72% | — | — |
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
48.2%
free-lunch eligible
— 7% below the Florida average of 52.0%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold — federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Engagement
43.6%
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
$12,950
per pupil, district-wide
— above Florida avg of $12,756
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 420 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
144
in-school suspensions + 142 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 17.1 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 34.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 1 expulsion.
Overview
Enrollment 840 Top 72% in Florida — larger than 28% of 4,029 state schools
Teachers (FTE) —
Students per teacher —
Free-lunch eligible 48.2% -7% vs state
NCES ID 120003000032
Student demographics
White 39.5%
African American 31.3%
Hispanic or Latino 16.1%
Two or More 7.7%
Asian 5.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.1%
Largest group: White at 39.5% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 2.0
Students per counselor 420:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 43.6%
In-school suspensions 144
Out-of-school suspensions 142
Expulsions 1
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Alachua, which includes Fort Clarke Middle School.
$12,950
Per student
+2%
vs Florida
Avg $12,756
-34%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 44.3%
State 36.3%
Federal 19.4%
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
- 2,416
- Students per teacher
- 31.8:1
- Enrollment
- 1,825
- Students per teacher
- 29.7:1
- Enrollment
- 1,291
- Students per teacher
- 29:1
- Enrollment
- 1,132
- Students per teacher
- —
- Enrollment
- 1,014
- Students per teacher
- 23.8:1
Similar middle schools in Gainesville
5 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) serving the same city.
Kanapaha Middle School
Standard public school
1,014 students 23.8:1 students per teacher
Westwood Middle School
Standard public school
854 students 29.2:1 students per teacher
Howard W. Bishop Middle School
Standard public school
824 students 27.4:1 students per teacher
Abraham Lincoln Middle School
Standard public school
613 students 27.3:1 students per teacher
Resilience Charter School Inc
Standard public school
107 students 24:1 students per teacher
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 Fort Clarke Middle School
How many students attend Fort Clarke Middle School?
Fort Clarke Middle School has 840 students enrolled. It is a middle school in GAINESVILLE, FL.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Fort Clarke Middle School?
48.2% of students at Fort Clarke Middle School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Florida average of 52.0%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Fort Clarke Middle School?
The largest demographic group at Fort Clarke Middle School is White at 39.5%. The school serves a diverse student body in GAINESVILLE, FL.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Fort Clarke Middle School?
Fort Clarke Middle School has a Resource Investment Index of 29/100 (F) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.