Spanish Lake Elementary School

Spanish Lake Elementary School is a mid-sized public school in Hialeah, FL, serving 1,138 students from Pre-K through 5th grade within the Miami-Dade district, and it has consistently earned a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger over the past decade, indicating solid, average performance.

This school’s standout feature is its strong math instruction, which consistently outperforms both district and state averages. For example, 75% of 3rd graders were proficient in math, compared to 72% district-wide and 66% statewide. This math strength is notably higher than nearby schools like Charles David Wyche Junior Elementary School (48% in 5th grade) and competitive with higher-ranked Joella C. Good Elementary School (74% in 5th grade). However, English Language Arts (ELA) scores are a relative weakness, lagging behind the district average in every grade—for instance, only 57% of 5th graders were proficient in ELA versus 65% district-wide. This gap is significant when compared to top-performing neighbors like Hive Preparatory School, which achieves 84% proficiency in 3rd grade ELA despite serving a similar demographic and having a comparable chronic absenteeism rate (23.9% at Spanish Lake vs. 23.5% at Hive Prep).

Chronic absenteeism is a persistent challenge at Spanish Lake, affecting nearly one in four students, though this rate is slightly better than the district average of 28.2%. The school’s spending of $12,684 per student is in the middle of the pack, and the data shows that higher spending doesn’t guarantee better results—Charles David Wyche Junior Elementary School spends $16,330 per student but has much lower test scores. For parents, Spanish Lake offers a solid foundation in math, but if strong ELA performance is a priority, you may want to explore nearby options like Mater Gardens Academy or Hive Preparatory School, which achieve higher overall scores despite similar challenges.