The 26 public schools on the Lakeland list: addresses, grades, enrollment, 2026 Florida grades and zones. Polk County Public Schools: 863-534-0500.
Last checked Oct. 9, 2026. Sources: Polk County Public Schools, its school listings, Address Zoning tool, school zones page, magnet and choice page and charter schools page, the City of Lakeland’s address layer, the U.S. Census Bureau’s geocoder, the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades, the federal NCES school directory and the NCES Private School Universe Survey.
Every traditional public school in Lakeland is run by Polk County Public Schools, the countywide district based at 1915 S. Floral Ave. in Bartow, not by the city. Zones do not follow city limits: many Lakeland homes are zoned for schools just outside the city, and many schools with a Lakeland mailing address sit in unincorporated Polk County.
Find your schools
- Look up an address: the district’s Address Zoning tool, or its GeoZone map for 2026-27
- Zoning questions: Pupil Accounting, 863-519-7600, option 1
- Magnet and choice schools: Office of Acceleration and Innovation, 863-534-0631
- Charter schools: Office of Charter Schools, 863-534-0625
- Buses: Transportation Operations, 863-534-7300; the district’s Lakeland lines are 863-534-7301 (North Lakeland), 863-534-7305 (Central Lakeland and Harrison) and 863-534-7308 (South Lakeland)
- District switchboard: 863-534-0500
How Lakeland is zoned
We ran a random sample of 1,817 of the city’s current address points through the district’s zoning tool for 2026-27 and for 2025-26. For 2026-27:
- High school: about 43% are zoned for Lakeland High, 28% for Kathleen, 16% for Tenoroc, 8% for George Jenkins and 6% for Lake Gibson. Only Lakeland High of the five is inside the city limits.
- Middle school: about 34% Sleepy Hill, 27% Southwest, 13% Crystal Lake, 13% Lake Gibson, 9% Lakeland Highlands and 4% Kathleen Middle.
- Elementary: about 56% are zoned for the seven zoned elementary schools inside the city. The rest are zoned for schools just outside it, led by R. Bruce Wagner (10%), Jesse Keen, Wendell Watson, Griffin and Highlands Grove (about 5% each).
The 2026 rezoning. The Polk County School Board approved new high school attendance boundaries on Jan. 27, 2026, effective for 2026-27, the district announced. Current high school students may stay at their school, with bus service if eligible; rising freshmen enroll at their new zoned school. About one in five of our sampled city addresses changed zoned high school. Tenoroc’s share rose from 6% to 16% and Lakeland High’s from 39% to 43%, while Lake Gibson’s fell from 13% to 6% and George Jenkins’ from 14% to 8%. No middle or elementary zone changed in our sample.
The tables below list every district school inside the city limits that takes students by zone or magnet application, the four high schools outside the city whose zones cover city addresses, and the public charter schools inside the city. Enrollment is the federal count for 2024-25. The grade is Florida’s 2026 school grade with the share of possible points, from the state’s grades file; each grade links to the school’s state report card. “Zone” is the share of sampled city addresses zoned for the school for 2026-27. Tables are in alphabetical order.
High schools
| School | Address | Grades | Students, 2024-25 | 2026 grade | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George W. Jenkins High | 6000 Lakeland Highlands Road (outside city) | 9-12 | 2,469 | B (61%) | 8% of city |
| Harrison School for the Arts | 750 Hollingsworth Road | 9-12 | Not published | Not graded separately | Audition, countywide |
| Kathleen High | 1100 Red Devil Way (outside city) | 9-12 | 1,861 | C (55%) | 28% of city |
| Lake Gibson High | 7007 N. Socrum Loop Road (outside city) | 9-12 | 1,973 | C (59%) | 6% of city |
| Lakeland High | 726 Hollingsworth Road | 9-12 | 1,985 | B (62%) | 43% of city |
| Tenoroc High | 4905 Saddle Creek Road (outside city) | 9-12 | 1,141 | C (52%) | 16% of city |
Tenoroc also offers the Cambridge AICE choice program, which families apply for through the district’s magnet and choice process.
Middle and K-8 schools
| School | Address | Grades | Students, 2024-25 | 2026 grade | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland Highlands Middle | 740 Lake Miriam Drive | 6-8 | 1,118 | B (63%) | 9% of city |
| Lawton Chiles Middle Academy | 400 N. Florida Ave. | 6-8 | 704 | A (73%) | Magnet (IB); apply |
| Rochelle School of the Arts | 1501 Martin L. King Jr. Ave. | K-8 | 762 | A (68%) | Magnet (fine arts); apply |
| Rosabelle W. Blake Academy | 510 Hartsell Ave. | K-8 | 562 | B (61%) | Magnet (Cambridge); apply |
| Sleepy Hill Middle | 2215 Sleepy Hill Road | 6-8 | 886 | C (49%) | 34% of city |
| Southwest Middle | 2815 Eden Parkway | 6-8 | 746 | C (54%) | 27% of city |
Crystal Lake Middle, Lake Gibson Middle and Kathleen Middle have Lakeland mailing addresses but sit outside the city limits; together they are zoned for about 30% of the city addresses we checked.
Elementary schools
| School | Address | Grades | Students, 2024-25 | 2026 grade | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlton Palmore Elementary | 3725 Cleveland Heights Blvd. | K-5 | 402 | C (50%) | 8% of city |
| Cleveland Court Elementary | 328 E. Edgewood Drive | K-5 | 374 | A (72%) | 6% of city |
| Dixieland Elementary | 416 Ariana St. | K-5 | 344 | B (61%) | 10% of city |
| Lincoln Avenue Academy | 1330 N. Lincoln Ave. | K-5 | 512 | A (75%) | Magnet (IB and STEM); apply |
| North Lakeland Elementary | 410 W. Robson St. | K-5 | 658 | C (50%) | 6% of city |
| Philip O’Brien Elementary | 1225 E. Lime St. | K-5 | 625 | C (45%) | 11% of city |
| Sleepy Hill Elementary | 2285 Sleepy Hill Road | Pre-K to 5 | 711 | B (57%) | 8% of city |
| Southwest Elementary | 2650 Southwest Ave. | K-5 | 376 | B (57%) | 7% of city |
Grades are as each school lists them; several also appear with pre-K on the district’s listing. Lakeland magnet schools take applications only from families in the district’s magnet Zone A (Highland City and Lakeland), and seats are filled by computerized random selection, according to the district’s magnet and choice page.
Charter schools
Public charter schools are sponsored by the Polk County School Board but run by their own nonprofit boards. None takes students by zone; families apply to the school, and when applications exceed seats, every applicant gets an equal chance through a random selection process or lottery, the district’s charter schools page says.
| School | Address | Grades | Students, 2024-25 | 2026 grade | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Achievement Academy | 716 E. Bella Vista St. | Pre-K | 157 | Not graded (pre-K) | None; apply |
| IDEA Lakeland | 1775 Interstate Drive | K-8 | 861 (school’s count) | Not in 2026 file | None; lottery |
| Lakeland Montessori Schoolhouse | 1124 N. Lake Parker Ave. | Age 3 to 8 | 129 | A (77%) | None; apply |
| Magnolia Montessori Academy | 815 S. Central Ave. | K-8 | 182 | A (83%) | None; apply |
| McKeel Academy Central | 411 N. Florida Ave. | Pre-K to 6 | 610 | A (79%) | None; apply in December |
| South McKeel Academy | 2222 Edgewood Drive S. | Pre-K to 6 | 1,200 | A (77%) | None; apply in December |
Four more charter schools have Lakeland mailing addresses but sit outside the city limits, according to the Census Bureau’s geocoder: McKeel Academy of Technology (grades 7-12), Polk State College Collegiate High School and Polk State Lakeland Gateway to College (both on Polk State’s Winter Lake Road campus) and Mi Escuela Montessori, which now lists its address as 6129 U.S. Highway 98 S.
Enrollment by school
Federal counts for the 2024-25 school year, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Together the 24 schools with a federal count had 20,487 students. Harrison School for the Arts has no separate federal record, and IDEA Lakeland was not yet in the federal directory.
Other district programs in the city
The district also runs programs with Lakeland addresses inside the city that families do not choose through the zones: PACE Center for Girls on Tyler Avenue and the district’s virtual programs (Polk Virtual Franchise, Polk Virtual Instruction Program and Polk Full Time eSchool), based at 604 S. Central Ave. Alternative and exceptional student education centers with Lakeland addresses, including the Bill Duncan Opportunity Center and Doris A. Sanders Learning Center, and Traviss Technical College sit outside the city limits. Placement runs through the district; call 863-534-0500.
Private schools
The NCES Private School Universe Survey for 2023-24 lists 20 private schools with a Lakeland mailing address. These 15 are inside the city limits, matched with the Census Bureau’s geocoder or the City of Lakeland’s address records. Grades and enrollment are as the survey reports them:
- Academy Prep Center of Lakeland, 1021 Lakeland Hills Blvd., grades 5-8, 131 students (federal listing)
- Families of Faith Christian Academy International, 4404 S. Florida Ave., Suite 11, kindergarten to grade 12, 148 students (federal listing)
- Geneva Classical Academy, 1736 New Jersey Road, pre-K to grade 12, 250 students (federal listing)
- Greater St. Paul Academy, 1130 N. Webster Ave., pre-K to grade 9, 69 students (federal listing)
- Head of the Class Learning Center, 1836 Kathleen Road, pre-K to grade 7, 125 students (federal listing)
- Inspiration Academy of Lakeland, 1020 N. Kentucky Ave., grades 1-5, 21 students (federal listing)
- Lakeland Christian School, 1111 Forest Park St., pre-K to grade 12, 1,135 students (federal listing)
- Lakeland Institute for Learning, 2020 Crystal Grove Drive, grades 3-12, 82 students (federal listing)
- Parkway Christian Academy, 4210 Lakeland Highlands Road, pre-K to grade 12, 421 students (federal listing)
- Pathways School of Excellence, 1000 Longfellow Blvd., grades 6-12, 54 students (federal listing)
- Resurrection Catholic School, 333 Ter Way, pre-K to grade 8, 503 students (federal listing)
- Roberts Academy at Florida Southern College, 1140 Frank Lloyd Wright Way, grades 2-8, 183 students (website; federal listing)
- St. Paul Lutheran School, 4450 Harden Blvd., pre-K to grade 8, 515 students (church and school website; federal listing)
- The Cygnet School, 2700 S. Florida Ave., kindergarten to grade 12, 108 students (website; federal listing)
- Victory Christian Academy, 1401 Griffin Road, kindergarten to grade 12, 698 students (federal listing)
More
- Our Lakeland schools guide has the full 2026-27 calendar, enrollment steps, School Board meetings and the Nov. 3 school tax vote.
- The district’s school listings list every Polk County school with its phone number.
- Friday night games: Friday night football and the scoreboard.
Frequently asked questions
Which school district serves Lakeland, Florida?
Polk County Public Schools runs every traditional public school in Lakeland; the city does not run schools. The district switchboard is 863-534-0500.
How do I find which schools my Lakeland address is zoned for?
Enter the address in the district’s Address Zoning tool at azua.polk-fl.net, or on its GeoZone map for 2026-27. Pupil Accounting answers questions at 863-519-7600, option 1.
Which high schools serve Lakeland?
In our sample of city addresses for 2026-27, 43% were zoned for Lakeland High, 28% for Kathleen, 16% for Tenoroc, 8% for George Jenkins and 6% for Lake Gibson. Harrison School for the Arts admits students by audition.
Did Polk County rezone Lakeland’s high schools?
Yes. The School Board approved new high school boundaries on Jan. 27, 2026, effective for 2026-27. About one in five of the city addresses we sampled changed zoned high school; current high school students may stay where they are.
How many public schools are on the Lakeland list?
Twenty-six: 20 district schools (six high schools, six middle and K-8 schools and eight elementary schools) and six public charter schools inside the city limits.
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