Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 40118

ZIP code 40118 has two elementary schools in Jefferson County: Fairdale Elementary serves kindergarten through grade 5, and Coral Ridge Elementary serves prekindergarten through grade 5. Their enrollments are 653 and 567, respectively. The main picture is that both schools’ 2025–2026 results were below the state figure in every matched subject and grade, with the two-school average 5 points below the state in writing and 16 points below in fourth-grade science. The most important finding is that neither school meets the state level in any of the reported matched tests.

Neither school is strongest across the board: Fairdale’s clearest lead is fourth-grade math, while Coral Ridge’s lowest result is in that same grade. Fairdale scored 40% in fourth-grade math, compared with Coral Ridge’s 17%; Fairdale was 3 points below the state, while Coral Ridge was 26 points below. Coral Ridge stands out in writing, scoring 33% against Fairdale’s 27%, and in grade 3 and grade 4 reading, where it led by 6 and 5 points. Fairdale led grade 5 reading by 1 point and fifth-grade social studies by 2 points. Across grades 3–5, average math proficiency was 35% at Fairdale and 31% at Coral Ridge; average reading was 34% and 37%, respectively. SchoolDigger’s 2025–2026 rankings place both in the lower part of its statewide distribution: Coral Ridge ranked 532 of 684 schools (22nd percentile), ahead of Fairdale at 547 of 684 (20th percentile).

Overall results improved modestly, but grade-level changes were mixed. Across the ten reported subject-grade results, Fairdale’s average rose by 2 points from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, and Coral Ridge’s rose by 1 point; Coral Ridge’s fourth-grade math score nevertheless fell 12 points, while its third-grade math rose 10 points. SchoolDigger rankings improved over the latest two years at both schools, with Coral Ridge moving from the 15th to the 22nd percentile and Fairdale from the 17th to the 20th. As context, 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 71% at Fairdale and 66% at Coral Ridge; student-teacher ratios were 15.5 and 14.4. Chronic absenteeism in 2025–2026 was 26% at Fairdale and 23% at Coral Ridge, compared with 24% statewide. These measures distinguish the schools’ circumstances but do not establish why their test results differ.