Summary:
Zip code 33771 in Largo, Florida, is home to two public charter elementary schools, Pinellas Preparatory Academy and Plato Academy Largo Charter School, both serving grades K-8 within the Pinellas school district.
Pinellas Preparatory Academy stands out as the higher-performing school in the area. It consistently earns a 3-star rating and ranks in the 62nd percentile statewide, outperforming Plato Academy Largo Charter School in 10 out of 14 subject and grade-level test comparisons. Notably, Pinellas Prep has a lower chronic absenteeism rate of 16.8%, compared to Plato Academy's 20.9%, and both schools are well below the district average of 30.6%. This suggests a strong culture of attendance across the zip code. A key finding is that Pinellas Prep achieves these results despite having a higher student-teacher ratio (13.6:1) and slightly lower spending per student ($11,674) than Plato Academy (10.5:1 and $11,740), indicating that factors like curriculum and school culture may be more impactful than class size alone.
Both schools share a fascinating strength in advanced coursework, with exceptional End-of-Course exam scores in Algebra 1 (98% at Pinellas Prep and 94% at Plato Academy). However, they both struggle to bring all students to grade-level proficiency in earlier math grades. A notable anomaly is a dramatic swing in 7th-grade math at Pinellas Prep, which dropped from 77% proficiency in 2024-2025 to just 17% in 2025-2026, a change that warrants further investigation. Overall, families in this area have two solid charter options, with Pinellas Preparatory Academy offering the strongest overall academic performance and attendance record.
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