Riverside Elementary School

Riverside Elementary School in Miami, FL, is a public school serving 842 students from Pre-K through 5th grade, located in a diverse neighborhood within the Miami-Dade district, where about 53% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Riverside Elementary has experienced a severe academic decline over the past five years, consistently ranking in the bottom 4-12% of Florida elementary schools since 2020-2021, though there was a slight improvement to the 12th percentile in 2025-2026. The most striking issue is the school's performance compared to nearby schools serving similar student populations. For example, just 0.19 miles away, Mater Academy Kiwanis has 97.5% of students on free/reduced lunch yet is a 4-star school with 74% of 3rd graders proficient in ELA, while Riverside's 3rd graders scored only 18% proficient. Similarly, Mater Academy East Charter School (0.72 miles away) has 84% free/reduced lunch and is a 4-star school with 69% of 3rd graders proficient in ELA. This shows that the challenges at Riverside are not simply due to student poverty but likely relate to school-level factors like instructional quality and leadership.

Chronic absenteeism is a major crisis at Riverside, with a 30.4% rate in 2023-2024, and a staggering 50.2% during the 2020-2021 school year—double the district and state averages. The school also shows a "two-speed" academic profile, where math scores are consistently higher than ELA scores, suggesting literacy instruction is failing many students. On a positive note, 2025-2026 test scores showed notable improvement, such as 5th-grade science jumping from 26% to 50% proficiency, which could signal that recent interventions are starting to work. Per-student spending at Riverside ($12,001) is in line with higher-performing neighbors, indicating that funding is not the root cause of the struggles.