Mater Academy At St Cloud

Mater Academy At St Cloud is a K-8 charter school in Miami, FL, serving 612 students and showing a promising upward trend, climbing from the 17th to the 43rd percentile in state rankings over the past few years, though it still lags behind many nearby schools.

This school has a standout strength in Algebra 1, with proficiency rates consistently above 88% for three years—far exceeding the state average of 63% and even outperforming high-performing neighbors like South Miami K-8 Center (85%) and Somerset Parkland Academy (72%). However, this success doesn't extend to other subjects; general math scores for grades 3-7 often fall below state averages, and Civics scores (72%) trail the state (77%). The school also faces a significant challenge with chronic absenteeism, which was 30.7% in 2023-2024—nearly five times higher than nearby Sunset Elementary School (6.5%) and Somerset Academy Elementary South Campus (3.8%). Additionally, per-pupil spending is low at $8,253, compared to $12,155 at Sunset Elementary and $17,050 at South Miami K-8 Center.

Mater Academy shares its address with several other charter schools, including Ben Gamla Charter School South Broward and Pinecrest Academy Avalon, which rank in the 88th to 92nd percentile—making Mater Academy the lowest-performing option in this unique micro-market. While the school has made clear progress, it still struggles compared to Ludlam Elementary School, just 0.24 miles away, which has a similar demographic profile but outperforms in nearly every subject and has a much lower chronic absenteeism rate (16.4%). The school's dramatic drop in free/reduced lunch rates—from 64.9% to 3.4% in one year—remains an unexplained data point that parents may want to investigate further.