Summary:
Zip code 34691 in Holiday, Florida, is served by two public elementary schools, Gulf Trace Elementary School and Gulfside Elementary School, both part of the Pasco County School District, and together they educate students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in a community where over two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
The standout story in this area is the dramatic turnaround at Gulfside Elementary School, which jumped from a 0-star ranking (7th percentile) in 2024-2025 to a 2-star ranking (41st percentile) in 2025-2026. This improvement is reflected in test scores, with 4th-grade math proficiency soaring from 28% to 70% and 5th-grade science reaching 60% proficiency. In contrast, Gulf Trace Elementary School has remained stagnant with a 1-star ranking for three consecutive years, and its overall state rank percentile actually dropped from 22nd to 14th despite some small gains. Gulfside also spends $1,700 more per student ($13,414 vs. $11,714) than Gulf Trace, which may help explain its recent success, though Gulf Trace has a slightly better student-teacher ratio (14.6:1 vs. 15.5:1).
A critical concern for both schools is chronic absenteeism, which affects 38.5% of students at Gulf Trace and 39.8% at Gulfside—rates well above the district average of 29.2% and state average of 31.4%. This suggests that while Gulfside has found ways to boost academic performance, the underlying issue of absenteeism remains a community-wide challenge. For parents, the key takeaway is that Gulfside Elementary School has demonstrated that significant improvement is possible in a high-poverty setting, while Gulf Trace Elementary School continues to struggle to keep pace, making Gulfside the stronger choice based on the most recent data.
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