Sunrise Elementary School

Sunrise Elementary School in Deltona, FL, is a mid-sized school serving 428 students from Pre-K through 5th grade within the Volusia district, where over 62% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The most notable story here is a dramatic academic turnaround: after years of ranking in the bottom 20% of Florida elementary schools, Sunrise jumped from the 16th percentile (1 star) in 2024-2025 to the 40th percentile (2 stars) in 2025-2026—a massive 24-percentile-point swing that no other nearby school matched. This improvement is driven by exceptional 3rd-grade math performance, with 80% of students proficient, the highest rate among all 11 schools in the comparison group and well above district (63%) and state (66%) averages. However, the school shows a "two-speed" profile: while 3rd graders excel in both math and English Language Arts (69%), scores drop sharply in 4th and 5th grades, with 4th-grade ELA at just 41% and 5th-grade math at 52%, suggesting challenges in retaining skills or a uniquely strong current 3rd-grade cohort.

Sunrise invests heavily in its students, spending $12,499 per pupil—among the highest in the area—and maintaining a low student-teacher ratio of 13.4:1, the second-lowest in the group. This contrasts with high-performing nearby schools like Timbercrest Elementary School ($10,716, 15.5:1) and Osteen Elementary School ($10,334, 15.8:1), which achieve strong results with less spending. Despite the academic rebound, chronic absenteeism remains a persistent issue at 32.8%, nearly identical to the district average (34.1%) and significantly worse than Timbercrest (22.6%) and Osteen (27.7%). Additionally, 5th-grade science proficiency is a consistent weakness at 54%, below both district (64%) and state (60%) averages, and far behind schools like Spirit Elementary School (70%) and Osteen (68%).

Compared to its closest neighbor, Pride Elementary School (just 1.26 miles away), which serves a similar demographic (59.5% free/reduced lunch) but consistently ranks higher (63rd percentile, 3 stars), Sunrise still has a significant gap to close. Pride outperforms Sunrise in nearly every subject and grade level, highlighting that while Sunrise is improving, it is emerging from a period of very low performance. The school's recent success in 3rd grade, despite high poverty rates, suggests its strategies—likely tied to higher spending and smaller classes—are effectively mitigating challenges in early elementary education, but sustaining these gains will require addressing absenteeism and upper-grade performance.