Summary:
The city of Oldsmar, Florida, is home to two public elementary schools, Forest Lakes Elementary School and Oldsmar Elementary School, both serving students from Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade within the Pinellas County School District, a highly-rated district ranked 15th in Florida.
While both schools are strong performers, Oldsmar Elementary School stands out as the top academic choice. It ranks in the 84th percentile statewide (350th out of 2,240 elementary schools) and has shown consistent improvement over recent years. In contrast, Forest Lakes Elementary School has seen a decline, dropping from the 83rd to the 68th percentile. Oldsmar Elementary achieves proficiency rates above 70% in all subjects and grades, including 75% in 3rd-grade English Language Arts and 85% in 4th-grade math, outperforming Forest Lakes in nearly every academic metric. Notably, Oldsmar accomplishes this despite spending nearly $2,000 less per student ($13,258 vs. $15,248) and serving a higher percentage of students from lower-income households (39.11% eligible for free/reduced lunch vs. 30.21%).
A key strength for the entire city is that both schools have chronic absenteeism rates (19.5% at Forest Lakes and 21.4% at Oldsmar) that are significantly lower than the district (30.6%) and state (31.4%) averages, indicating a strong community focus on attendance. Additionally, both schools excel in mathematics, consistently beating district and state averages. For parents, the data suggests that Oldsmar Elementary School is the higher-performing and improving school, while Forest Lakes Elementary School offers a slightly lower student-to-teacher ratio (13.3:1 vs. 14.3:1) and a lower rate of chronic absenteeism.
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