Belvedere Elementary School

Belvedere Elementary School in West Palm Beach, FL, is a mid-sized PK-5 school serving 467 students within the Palm Beach district, where a large majority of families (70.88%) qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Belvedere has historically struggled academically, currently holding a 1-star rating (24th percentile) for the 2025-2026 school year. While the school has shown some stabilization after hitting a low point in 2022-2023, it has not yet broken through to higher performance levels. A key challenge is chronic absenteeism, which at 26.9% is significantly higher than nearby high-performing schools like Palm Beach Public School (14.8%) and Meadow Park Elementary School (16.5%). Interestingly, Belvedere spends more per student ($18,365) than several higher-performing nearby schools, such as South Olive Elementary School ($17,889), suggesting that funding alone isn't the issue. A bright spot is 5th grade math, where 65% of students are proficient—matching the district average and exceeding the state average. The school also benefits from a favorable student-to-teacher ratio of 14:1, better than many peers.

A particularly telling comparison is with U. B. Kinsey/Palmview Elementary, located just 2.5 miles away and serving a very similar demographic (74.8% poverty). Despite this, U.B. Kinsey ranks in the 58th percentile (3 stars) and outperforms Belvedere in nearly every subject. The key difference appears to be that U.B. Kinsey achieves better results despite having an even higher chronic absenteeism rate (32.2%), suggesting that Belvedere may have room to improve its in-school instructional strategies. This comparison shows that high poverty does not have to mean low performance, and Belvedere has a clear opportunity to learn from a peer school facing similar challenges.