Summary
Passport Charter is a small K-8 school in Orlando, FL, serving 181 students within the Orange County school district, where over half of its students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This school presents a striking contradiction: while its middle school program (grades 6-8) can compete with district averages—especially in math and civics—its elementary grades are in crisis, particularly in math. For example, in the 2025-2026 school year, only 15% of 4th graders and 10% of 5th graders were proficient in math, a staggering 50+ percentage points below nearby schools like Dover Shores Elementary, which had 62% and 58% proficiency in the same grades. This "4th grade cliff" suggests a critical breakdown in math instruction between 3rd and 4th grade, a pattern not seen in neighboring schools.
Despite these challenges, Passport Charter has notable strengths. Its civics performance is consistently strong, with 76% of students proficient in the 2025-2026 school year, matching district and state averages. In middle school, 7th and 8th-grade math proficiency has sometimes outperformed district and state levels, as seen in the 2023-2024 school year. However, the school's overall state ranking has plummeted to the 6th percentile (2095 out of 2240), its lowest point in a decade, and far below nearby schools like Pershing School (63rd percentile) and Lake Como School (61st percentile). Even lower-performing neighbors like Chickasaw Elementary (13th percentile) rank higher.
Another key factor is the school's low spending per student—$10,583 in 2024-2025—which is significantly less than nearby schools like Conway Elementary ($19,068) and Dover Shores Elementary ($13,716). While chronic absenteeism (22.9%) is lower than the district average (35.2%), it doesn't fully explain the school's unique struggles in elementary math. For parents, this school offers a strong middle school option but requires urgent attention to its elementary math program, which has seen a rapid decline in recent years.
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