Summary:
Zip code 34275, covering Nokomis and Venice, Florida, is home to two public elementary and middle schools serving grades PK/K through 8, both part of the highly-ranked Sarasota County School District.
Laurel Nokomis School is the larger, traditional public school with 1,384 students and stands out for its consistent academic excellence, outperforming district and state averages across most subjects. It holds a 4-star rating and has shown a strong state ranking, moving from the 74th to the 81st percentile in recent years. In contrast, Island Village Montessori School is a smaller, specialized public school with 527 students that offers a unique Montessori approach. While it generally trails Laurel Nokomis in standard math and English language arts proficiency—for example, in 7th grade math, Laurel Nokomis scored 85% proficient versus Island Village's 73%—it excels in advanced End-of-Course exams, with 100% of its Algebra 1 test-takers achieving proficiency. Island Village has also shown dramatic year-over-year improvement, such as 3rd-grade math proficiency more than doubling from 32% to 65% in one year.
Key metrics reveal interesting contrasts: Laurel Nokomis spends significantly more per student ($14,918) compared to Island Village ($11,923), yet Island Village has a slightly higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students (40.23% vs. 36.13%). Both schools have favorable student-teacher ratios (14.4:1 at Laurel Nokomis and 13.5:1 at Island Village), but chronic absenteeism is a shared challenge, with both schools above the district average of 20.1% (Laurel Nokomis at 18.7% and Island Village at 21.0%). Overall, families in this zip code have a clear choice between a large, high-performing traditional school and a smaller, rapidly improving Montessori program that excels in advanced coursework.
Thank you for your feedback!