Excelsior Prep Charter School

Excelsior Prep Charter School is a K-5 elementary school in Tampa, FL, within the Hillsborough district, serving a very small student population where nearly all students (96.92%) come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

The most critical issue at Excelsior Prep is its extreme chronic absenteeism rate of 51.3%, meaning over half of students miss 10% or more of the school year—this is nearly double the district average and the highest among nearby schools. This directly contributes to the school’s consistently low academic performance, which has historically placed it in the bottom 10-15% of Florida elementary schools. However, there is a puzzling bright spot: in the most recent school year, 5th graders scored 63% proficiency in both Math and ELA, far above the school’s 3rd and 4th graders (who scored 15-27% in those subjects). This dramatic gap suggests inconsistent instruction across grade levels, possibly due to a particularly strong teacher or cohort. The school also spends less per student ($12,154) than many nearby schools with similar or lower poverty rates, such as Shaw Elementary School ($13,566) and Witter Elementary School ($14,162), indicating it may lack resources for needed interventions.

For comparison, Muller Elementary Magnet School, just over a mile away, has a much lower chronic absenteeism rate (20.0%) and significantly higher academic performance across all grades, showing that the challenges at Excelsior Prep are not inevitable for the neighborhood. While the school’s state ranking has slightly improved from the 3rd percentile to the 14th percentile in recent years, this progress is fragile. To truly improve, Excelsior Prep must urgently address its absenteeism crisis and invest in consistent, school-wide instructional quality.