Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 33184

Zip code 33184 in Miami, Florida, is home to two public elementary schools, Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary and Dr. Carlos J. Finlay Elementary, both serving grades PK through 5 within the Miami-Dade school district, which holds a 4-star rating.

While both schools are strong performers, Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary stands out for its exceptional student engagement, reflected in a chronic absenteeism rate of just 8.8%—less than half that of Dr. Carlos J. Finlay Elementary (19.8%). This likely contributes to Douglas's higher overall English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency, averaging 74% across grades 3-5 compared to Finlay's 69.3%. However, Dr. Carlos J. Finlay Elementary shows a slight edge in mathematics, with an average proficiency of 79% versus Douglas's 77.3%. Both schools share a notable strength in 5th-grade science, each achieving a 72% proficiency rate, well above district and state averages. Finlay has also demonstrated impressive year-over-year improvement, rising from the 69th to the 81st percentile in state rankings over two years.

Despite serving a student population with a higher percentage of free/reduced lunch recipients (52.22% vs. 45.13%), Dr. Carlos J. Finlay Elementary remains highly competitive, particularly in math. Resource allocation is nearly identical between the two schools, with per-student spending around $16,000 and student-teacher ratios of approximately 15:1. This suggests that differences in performance stem from school-specific factors like leadership and teaching practices rather than funding disparities. Overall, families in zip code 33184 have access to two excellent, improving elementary schools with distinct academic strengths.