Summary:
In zip code 32839, three elementary schools—Palmetto Elementary, Millennia Gardens Elementary, and Shingle Creek Elementary—serve grades PK-5 within the Orange school district, an area where over 60% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating widespread economic need.
Shingle Creek Elementary stands out as the top performer, achieving a 62% proficiency rate in 4th Grade Math—19 points higher than its local peers—and showing the strongest upward trend in state ranking, moving from the 8th to the 16th percentile. It also leads in 3rd Grade Math (51%) and 4th Grade English Language Arts (42%). In contrast, Palmetto Elementary, the largest school with 1,006 students, consistently ranks in the bottom 5% of Florida elementary schools, with test scores far below district and state averages. Millennia Gardens Elementary spends the most per student ($12,404) but has the highest chronic absenteeism rate (36.0%) and is outperformed by Shingle Creek, which spends $170 less per student.
Key takeaways include that higher spending does not guarantee better results, as Shingle Creek demonstrates more efficient resource use. Chronic absenteeism is a major challenge across all three schools, ranging from 30.9% to 36.0%, and is likely a primary driver of below-average academic performance. Shingle Creek’s strong math program, particularly in 4th grade, offers a potential model for improvement, while Palmetto Elementary faces the most significant challenges with the highest student-teacher ratio (17.9) and lowest per-student spending ($10,665).
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