Summary:
In zip code 34982 in Fort Pierce, Florida, there are two public elementary schools—Weatherbee Elementary School and White City Elementary School—serving grades PK-5 within the St. Lucie School District, which ranks 38th out of 70 districts in Florida.
The most notable story in this area is the dramatic turnaround at Weatherbee Elementary. After ranking in the bottom 13th percentile in 2023-2024 and the bottom 9th percentile in 2024-2025, Weatherbee jumped to the 32nd percentile (2-star rating) in 2025-2026—a massive 23-percentile-point improvement. In contrast, White City Elementary dropped from a 2-star (36th percentile) to a 1-star (22nd percentile) over the same period. Despite this overall decline, White City has standout "bright spots": its 4th Grade ELA proficiency (68%) and 4th Grade Math proficiency (63%) both exceed the district average and significantly outperform Weatherbee's 4th grade scores. Weatherbee, however, shows consistent strength in math, with 5th Grade Math (62%) matching the state average and exceeding the district average—a strong achievement given that 62.81% of its students qualify for free/reduced lunch.
Both schools face a systemic challenge with chronic absenteeism, which is notably higher than the state average (31.4%) at Weatherbee (35.9%) and White City (34.9%). Interestingly, despite nearly identical per-student spending ($11,681 vs. $11,586), Weatherbee operates with larger class sizes (19.2:1 student-teacher ratio) compared to White City (16.4:1), yet achieved a higher overall state rank in 2025-2026. This suggests that factors like instructional strategies or school culture—rather than just resources—are driving Weatherbee's recent improvement, making it a school to watch for families seeking upward momentum in the area.
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