Starlight Cove Elementary School

Starlight Cove Elementary School in Lantana, FL, serves 792 students in grades PK through 5 and is part of the Palm Beach district, where it faces significant challenges related to high poverty and chronic absenteeism.

Starlight Cove has a history of low academic performance, consistently ranking in the bottom 15-25% of Florida elementary schools over the past decade. Its most recent ranking places it in the 13th percentile statewide, a stark contrast to nearby schools like Hidden Oaks K-8 (71st percentile) and Citrus Cove Elementary (57th percentile). The most alarming differentiator is the school's critically high chronic absenteeism rate of 31.9% in the 2023-2024 school year, which is far worse than the district average of 23.4% and significantly higher than nearby peers like Imagine Schools Chancellor Campus (13.4%) and Hidden Oaks K-8 (17.9%). This absenteeism is a primary driver of the school's consistently below-average test scores across all subjects and grade levels, with proficiency rates 15-27 percentage points behind the district in English Language Arts and Math.

Despite spending $14,826 per student—more than several higher-performing nearby schools—Starlight Cove has not been able to translate that investment into improved outcomes. For example, Hidden Oaks K-8 spends $14,001 per student and achieves a 71st percentile rank, while Franklin Academy - Boynton Beach spends only $9,532 and achieves a 28th percentile rank. There is a slight glimmer of improvement in 5th-grade Math, where proficiency has risen from 38% to 55% over three years, but overall, the school's primary challenge is not academic instruction alone—it is the foundational issue of getting students to school every day. Without a significant, community-wide effort to address attendance, Starlight Cove is likely to remain in the bottom tier of Florida's elementary schools.