Chester Shell Elementary School, Hawthorne FL

Original Research by School Decision on Chester Shell Elementary School

Chester Shell Elementary sits in Hawthorne, a small town in Alachua County about fifteen or so miles east of Gainesville. It is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade, part of the Alachua County district. The enrollment is modest for an elementary school of this grade span, with children spread fairly evenly across grades. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this among the higher-need schools in the district and tells you something about the community it serves.

On the most recent Florida state assessments, proficiency rates across reading, math, and science fall well below the Florida midpoint and sit in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Alachua County. That comparison covers the two districts in the county, so the gap is not a subtle one. In math, third and fourth graders are near or just above a third proficient, and fifth graders are lower still. ELA results follow a similar pattern across grades three through five, with fourth grade the lowest point. Fifth-grade science results roughly match the ELA figures. These are meaningful gaps, and a parent considering this school would reasonably want to talk directly with the school about what supports are in place for students who are working below grade level and what the trajectory looks like. Trend data was not available in the state assessment records provided, so it is not possible to characterize whether performance is improving or holding steady.

The school itself offers no specialty program information in the available data. IEP and English learner rates were not reported, so the picture of special-population supports is incomplete. Chronic absenteeism data was also absent, and that matters at a school serving this level of economic need, where attendance patterns can shape outcomes considerably.

At the district level, there are two things worth knowing. Alachua County voters renewed the existing One Mill property tax in late 2024, publicly reported as keeping in place the funding that pays for art, music, drama, band and chorus, school nurses, librarians, and counselors across county schools. This renewal runs through mid-2029 and, because it was a continuation rather than a new levy, did not add to homeowners' tax bills. The staffing it supports reaches all schools in the county, including Chester Shell. Separately, the district has been piloting year-round calendars at two other elementary schools; Chester Shell is not among them, so that calendar shift does not apply here directly, though it reflects the district's willingness to experiment with structure at struggling schools.

The Hawthorne housing market is notably more affordable than the Florida state average, with home values running well below both the state and national benchmarks and a price-to-income ratio that is relatively accessible by national standards. For families weighing where to buy, that affordability differential is real. Rental data was not available for the immediate area. The town itself is small, with a rural character, local businesses, and scenic surroundings. Its growth story is primarily industrial, anchored by a large Weyerhaeuser-developed site in a federal Opportunity Zone, positioned for manufacturing and distribution. Whether that investment reshapes the local economy and eventually the school's context is not yet clear from available data.

For a family already rooted in Hawthorne, Chester Shell is the neighborhood school. For a family choosing where to settle in Alachua County with young children and academic outcomes as a primary lens, the proficiency picture here warrants a direct conversation with school leadership about what intervention and enrichment look like on the ground.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 55% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 58% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 50% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 54% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 55% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 52% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Science

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 47% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

This schoolALACHUA, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income42%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income42%9 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income29%Higher-income42%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income21%Higher-income26%5 pp gap