Polk County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046, as of the 2020 census, and estimated to be 818,330, as of July 1, 2023. Its county seat is Bartow, and its largest city is Lakeland.
Auburndale is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,616 at the 2020 census.
Bartow is a city and the county seat of Polk County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount, the city was renamed in honor of Francis S. Bartow, the first brigade commander of the Confederate Army to die in combat during the American Civil War. It is part of the Lakeland−Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 787,404, as of July 1, 2022. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 19,309.
Eagle Lake is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. Most of the town being centered around a subsection of U.S. Highway 17. The population was 3,008 as of 2020.
Haines City is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Its population was 26,669 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 16,361 at the 2020 census.
Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along I-4 east of Tampa and west of Orlando, it is the most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal city of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is sometimes locally referred to by the nickname "Swan City" due to its sizeable population of swans, all of whom are descendants of two mute swans given to Lakeland by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957.
Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is located about 51 miles (82 km) east of Tampa and about 47 miles (76 km) southwest of Orlando, with neighboring Lakeland located to its west. The city's population was 49,219 at the 2020 census, making it the second most populated city in Polk County after Lakeland. It is a principal city of the Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 17th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 3,175,275 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
Florida Southern College is a private university in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. It offers undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs. The institution is home to the world's largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.
Winter Haven High School is a four-year public high school located in Winter Haven, Florida, a city of 27,855.
Lake Region High School is a public high school located in Eagle Lake, Florida. It is operated by Polk County Public Schools, the countywide public school district.
Lakeland Senior High School, opened in 1902, is the oldest public high school in Lakeland, Florida, United States. The school was originally located on North Florida Avenue and was destroyed by fire in 1927. It is part of Polk County Public Schools. Lakeland Senior High School was the original high school in the city. It also shares its campus with Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. Harrison students attend academic classes at Lakeland Senior High School.
Arlington Country Day School (ACDS) was a private school in Jacksonville, Florida. A non-sectarian coeducational school, it offered a K-12 education and enrolled over 400 students a year. It was notable for its successful boys' basketball program. On January 26, 2018, the school closed its doors without warning and informed parents Saturday January 27, 2018, that it shut down.
Auburndale High School is a four-year public high school located in Auburndale, Florida, United States, and a part of Polk County Public Schools. The school serves about 1,800 students from ninth through twelfth grades. In 2012, construction was completed on a new media center, added parking, centrally-located cafeteria, and new academic buildings.
Maryly Van Leer Peck was an American academic and college administrator. She founded numerous programs in Guam, one of them being the Community Career College at the University of Guam. She was the first female president of a public institution of higher learning in Florida, the first female president of a Florida community college while president of Polk Community College aka Polk State College. She was one of the first female graduates of the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt University and the first woman to graduate with a degree in chemical engineering. She was also the first woman to receive an M.S. and a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Florida. She also founded Society of Women Engineers chapters, and was an active board member.
Pensacola State College (PSC) is a public college in Pensacola, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. Originally established as Pensacola Junior College in 1948, the college underwent a name change in July 2010 to reflect its expanded academic offerings to include both associate and baccalaureate degrees.
Lake Wales High School is a high school located in Lake Wales, Florida, serving the city of Lake Wales and nearby communities such as Frostproof, Dundee, and Winter Haven, Florida. It is part of Lake Wales Charter Schools.
Marcus Jerome Capers is an American professional basketball player for the London Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada. He played college basketball for Washington State.
Union Academy is a magnet middle school in Bartow, Florida. It dates to 1897 when it opened as an elementary school for African Americans. It was expanded to include a high school in 1923. The high school was merged into Summerlin Institute in 1969 following the desegregation era and its students became part of Bartow High School on the Summerlin campus. Union Academy became a Middle School.
