Summary:
Zip code 33020 in Hollywood, Florida, is home to 17 diverse schools within the Broward County school district, serving over 10,000 students across 11 elementary, 3 middle, and 3 high schools, with a mix of traditional public, charter, and magnet programs that reveal stark contrasts in performance and resources.
The standout school in the area is Beachside Montessori Village, a K-8 magnet that consistently ranks in the 97th-98th percentile statewide with exceptional test scores and a remarkably low chronic absenteeism rate of 5.9%. Other top performers include the Hollywood Academy Of Arts & Science (K-5) and its Hollywood Academy Of Arts And Science Middle School, both charter schools that achieve near-perfect scores on end-of-course exams. At the other end, Oakridge Elementary School and Sunshine Elementary Charter School face significant challenges, with Sunshine being the lowest-ranked school in the zip code despite having a very low poverty rate. South Broward High School shows a concerning trend with a high chronic absenteeism rate of 52.8% and declining state ranking, while Avant Garde Academy Of Broward offers a contrasting experience with a much higher graduation rate of 98.6%.
Key findings reveal that higher spending per student does not guarantee success, as the three highest-spending schools—Hollywood Central Elementary School, Oakridge, and Mary M Bethune Elementary School—are among the lowest-performing. Chronic absenteeism is a powerful predictor of performance, with top schools like Beachside Montessori and Ben Gamla Charter School having rates below 25%, while struggling schools exceed 50%. Charter schools dominate the top tier, suggesting their autonomy leads to effective educational models, while the "poverty paradox" at Sunshine Elementary indicates internal factors like instructional quality may be driving its low performance despite low poverty rates.
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