Summary:
The city of Citra, Florida is home to two public schools: North Marion High School and North Marion Middle School. While the middle school demonstrates exceptional performance on certain math exams, the high school faces challenges with low graduation rates and high chronic absenteeism, which may be contributing to its overall academic struggles compared to the state and district averages.
Marion County's North Marion Middle School stands out for its impressive proficiency rates on Algebra 1 and Geometry end-of-course exams, far exceeding the district and state averages. In contrast, North Marion High School has a relatively low four-year graduation rate of 74.9%, significantly below typical high school graduation rates. Both schools also grapple with high rates of chronic absenteeism, which may be a key factor in their academic performance.
Across both schools, a significant majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the student population faces socioeconomic challenges that could be influencing their educational outcomes. While per-student spending is similar between the two schools, North Marion High School has a higher student-teacher ratio, which may also contribute to its lower performance compared to the middle school. Addressing chronic absenteeism, leveraging successful practices from the middle school, and considering the needs of the low-income student population could be important steps in improving the overall quality of education in Citra's public schools.
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