Robert Russa Moton Elementary School

Robert Russa Moton Elementary School in Perrine, FL, is a small public school serving 168 students from Pre-K through 5th grade within the Miami-Dade district, where the vast majority of families (86%) qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

This school stands out for a dramatic academic turnaround. After spending years in the bottom 10% of Florida elementary schools, the most recent data shows a remarkable leap, with 3rd-grade math scores (75% proficient) now exceeding both the district (72%) and state (66%) averages. This is a huge improvement from just two years prior. However, this success is fragile and uneven—while 3rd grade shines, 4th and 5th grades still lag behind, especially in science (33% proficient vs. 59% district). The school also spends a very high amount per student ($22,696), which is over 70% more than the top-performing nearby Whispering Pines Elementary School ($13,227), suggesting the extra funds are used to address significant challenges rather than directly boosting scores.

The biggest hurdle is a crisis-level chronic absenteeism rate of 44.1%—nearly double the district average and far higher than any nearby school. This means nearly half of students are missing too many days to learn effectively. The school's small size makes this problem even more impactful. For parents, Moton is a school at a critical point: it has shown it can achieve strong results for students who attend regularly, but its long-term success depends entirely on solving the attendance problem and ensuring that progress in the early grades continues through to 5th grade.