Mango Elementary School

Mango Elementary School in Seffner, FL, is a public school serving 740 students in grades PK-5 within the Hillsborough district, a high-poverty area where 72% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Mango Elementary faces significant challenges, particularly with chronic absenteeism, which has hovered around 44% for the past three years—nearly 1.5 times the district average. This absenteeism is strongly linked to the school's low academic performance, which has consistently ranked in the bottom 6% of Florida elementary schools. For example, in 2025-2026, only 33% of 3rd graders were proficient in ELA, compared to the state average of 60%. Nearby Limona Elementary, just 1.73 miles away, has a much lower absenteeism rate (28.8%) and scores 20-30 percentage points higher on most state tests, highlighting the critical role attendance plays in student success. Despite spending more per student ($12,943) than higher-performing neighbors like Independence Academy ($9,138), Mango has not been able to overcome these systemic issues.

There are small pockets of hope. In 2025-2026, 4th-grade math proficiency reached 51%, the only subject where the school broke the 50% mark, suggesting a specific teacher or strategy worth replicating. Additionally, 5th-grade science scores have shown an upward trend, rising from 19% in 2022-2023 to 36% in 2025-2026, though still trailing the state average of 60%. For parents, the most critical takeaway is that improving attendance is the single most important intervention needed at Mango Elementary to unlock academic gains.