Summary:
Zip code 33160, covering Sunny Isles Beach and North Miami Beach, Florida, is served by two schools within the Miami-Dade school district: Norman S. Edelcup/Sunny Isles Beach K-8 and Alonzo & Tracy Mourning Senior High School. These schools present a stark contrast in academic performance, creating a challenging landscape for families navigating the transition from elementary to high school.
Norman S. Edelcup/Sunny Isles Beach K-8 is the standout school in the area, earning a 4-star rating with a strong upward trend in state rankings. It excels in nearly every subject, with middle school students achieving near 100% proficiency in high school-level courses like Algebra 1, Geometry, and Biology. The school benefits from a favorable student-teacher ratio of 18.7:1 and slightly higher per-student spending ($9,654). In contrast, Alonzo & Tracy Mourning Senior High School has a declining state ranking (dropping from 3 stars to 2 stars) and struggles with core academic proficiency, despite a very high graduation rate of 97.6%. Its chronic absenteeism rate of 40.4% is alarmingly high, and its student-teacher ratio of 30.8:1 is significantly worse than the K-8 school, likely hindering individualized instruction.
The data reveals a potential "achievement cliff" where high-performing K-8 students may not receive adequate support in high school. The high school's near-perfect graduation rate, paired with low proficiency in Algebra 1 (23-30%) and English Language Arts (43-53%), suggests a focus on credit recovery over deep academic mastery. While the K-8 school has a lower free/reduced lunch rate (26.89%) compared to the high school (32.46%), both schools face challenges with chronic absenteeism, which is a major red flag for the high school. Families should consider the K-8 school's exceptional advanced coursework opportunities but be aware of the significant drop in academic performance and resources at the high school level.
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