Folsom Elementary School

Folsom Elementary School in Thonotosassa, FL, is a public school serving 484 students in grades PK-5 within the Hillsborough district, where over 71% of students come from low-income households. The school faces significant challenges, holding a 1-star rating and ranking in the 26th percentile among Florida elementary schools, with a persistent crisis in chronic absenteeism that has remained above 44% for four years—far exceeding district and state averages.

One of the most interesting findings is Folsom's consistent strength in 4th-grade math, which has outperformed the district average for four consecutive years (e.g., 64% in 2025-2026 vs. district 61%). This "4th-grade anomaly" suggests effective instructional strategies in that grade, while 5th-grade English Language Arts (38%) and science scores lag significantly behind state averages. Nearby Thonotosassa Elementary School (0.89 miles away) mirrors Folsom's struggles with a similar 0-star rating, high poverty (76.79%), and identical chronic absenteeism rate (47.9%), indicating these challenges are systemic to the community. In contrast, Dr. Kiran C. Patel Elementary School (1.42 miles away) is a 5-star school with only 8.24% low-income students and an 18.4% absenteeism rate, achieving nearly double Folsom's test scores.

Despite these hurdles, Folsom has shown resilience, climbing from a 6th percentile ranking in 2018-2019 to maintain a 1-star rating for the past five years, with a brief 2-star peak in 2022-2023. The school's per-student spending ($11,803) is mid-range compared to neighbors, but higher than Dr. Kiran C. Patel's ($8,971), suggesting that funding alone isn't the issue—addressing chronic absenteeism and replicating 4th-grade math success across other grades could be key to future improvement.