Ocala Springs Elementary School

Ocala Springs Elementary School in Ocala, FL, is a mid-sized school serving 682 students in grades PK through 5, and is part of the Marion County School District, where it serves a predominantly low-income community with about 64% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

Ocala Springs stands out as a consistent "middle child" among nearby schools, earning a steady 2-star rating from SchoolDigger for the last five years. While neighboring schools like Eighth Street Elementary School and Madison Street Academy Of Visual And Performing Arts are high-performing (4-5 stars), and schools like Wyomina Park Elementary School and Oakcrest Elementary School are struggling (0-1 stars), Ocala Springs remains in the middle. Its most notable challenge is a high chronic absenteeism rate of 33.7%, which is much higher than the high-performing schools (e.g., Eighth Street at 9.4%) and comparable to struggling ones. Despite this, the school achieves average test scores, suggesting that students who attend regularly are engaged and learning effectively. A clear strength is 5th Grade Math, where 61% of students are proficient, matching the state average and outperforming the district average of 54%.

Ocala Springs operates efficiently with lower spending ($12,490 per student) and a higher student-teacher ratio (16.6) than many nearby schools, yet it still delivers results on par with the district average. The school shows a strong upward trend in Math proficiency across all grades over the last three years, though English Language Arts scores have been more uneven. The biggest opportunity for improvement lies in tackling the absenteeism issue—if the school can reduce its chronic absenteeism rate, it could significantly boost overall performance and potentially join the ranks of higher-performing neighbors.