Frost Elementary School

Frost Elementary School is a public school in Riverview, FL, serving 633 students in grades PK-5 within the Hillsborough County School District, where about 63% of students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

The most pressing issue at Frost Elementary is its critically high chronic absenteeism rate, which reached 40.9% in the 2023-2024 school year—far exceeding the district and state averages of around 31%. This rate is more than double that of nearby Winthrop Charter School (18.9%) and significantly higher than Mintz Elementary School (24.3%). This persistent absenteeism is a major factor behind the school's academic struggles, particularly in math, where proficiency rates in grades 3-5 range from 36% to 43%—well below state averages of 62-66%. While Frost ranks in the 12th percentile statewide, it performs better than some nearby schools like Palm River Elementary (3rd percentile) and Clair-Mel Elementary (3rd percentile), but lags far behind Winthrop Charter School, which ranks in the 80th percentile.

Despite these challenges, there is a bright spot in 3rd-grade English Language Arts, where Frost students achieved a 55% proficiency rate in 2024-2025—above the district average and nearly matching the state average. However, this strength does not carry into higher grades, suggesting a need for sustained support. Interestingly, Frost spends more per student ($10,957) than Winthrop Charter ($8,245), yet achieves lower results, indicating that financial resources alone cannot overcome the barriers created by high absenteeism and concentrated need. Over the past decade, the school has remained in the bottom 30% of Florida elementary schools, reflecting systemic challenges that require focused efforts on attendance and early academic support to break the cycle.