Summary:
This analysis examines five elementary schools in Tampa, Florida's zip code 33602, serving grades K-5 through K-8 within the Hillsborough school district, an area marked by significant economic diversity and stark contrasts in school performance.
Rampello K-8 Magnet School is the clear standout, consistently earning a 4-star rating and ranking in the top 20% of Florida schools. It dramatically outperforms all other local schools, with 82% of 3rd graders proficient in ELA versus the district's 55%, and it has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (10.2%) and the lowest poverty rate (26.73% free/reduced lunch). In stark contrast, Patricia Sullivan Metropolitan Ministries Partnership School and Graham Elementary School are the lowest-performing, with Graham seeing only 29% of 3rd graders proficient in ELA. Both schools have the highest chronic absenteeism rates (39.8% and 36.6% respectively) and the highest poverty rates (88.24% and 82.35% free/reduced lunch). Channelside Academy Of Math And Science and Tampa Heights Elementary Magnet fall in the middle, with performance generally below district averages.
The most striking finding is the inverse relationship between spending and performance: the two highest-spending schools—Patricia Sullivan ($29,681 per student) and Graham ($24,548 per student)—are the lowest-performing, while the top-performing Rampello spends the least ($11,114 per student). This suggests that high resource allocation alone cannot overcome challenges like extreme poverty and chronic absenteeism. Additionally, Patricia Sullivan's dramatic decline from a 4-star school in 2023-2024 to a 1-star school in 2025-2026, despite having the smallest class sizes (9.7:1 student-teacher ratio), underscores that a positive school culture and student engagement, as reflected in low absenteeism, are more powerful predictors of academic success than spending levels alone.
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