Polk Pre-Collegiate Academy in Winter Haven ceases operations for coming year

Polk Pre-Collegiate Academy, a charter school based in Winter Haven, will not operate for the coming school year, Polk County Public Schools has confirmed.

“Our staff is reaching out to the impacted students and families and will help place them in our schools as needed,” PCPS spokesperson Jason Geary said in an email. “We are glad to assist families and get them situated before school resumes; it is estimated that 40 or fewer students will be impacted by this closure.”

Polk Pre-Collegiate Academy served ninth- and 10th-grade students. It opened in 2011 and operated from the campus of Berkley Accelerated Middle School in Auburndale before moving to a site in Winter Haven. Its website lists that location as 111 Ave. R N.E., in the same building as the Florence Villa Community Redevelopment Corp.

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Polk County Public Schools, like all school districts in Florida, serves as a “pass-through” entity in distributing state funding to charter schools, calculated by enrollment. Based on an analysis of Polk Pre-Collegiate Academy’s final enrollment and operations, the school owes approximately $22,500 back to the district, Geary said.

As of Monday, the website for Polk Pre-Collegiate Academy still advertised that it was accepting applications for the 2024-25 school year. A voicemail left last week with the phone number listed on the site was not returned.