The top reported proficiency rate is 62% in Math. The lowest is 61% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Newberry Elementary School
Newberry Elementary School is a public pre-K through fourth grade school serving the city of Newberry, a small, growing Alachua County community west of Gainesville. The school sits within the Alachua County Public Schools district, and its story is inseparable from both the rapid residential expansion reshaping Newberry and the district-level decisions that touch every school in the county.
The school draws a racially and economically mixed student body. White students make up roughly half of enrollment, with Black and Hispanic students together comprising a substantial portion of the rest, and multiracial students rounding out the picture. Close to half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning economic diversity is real and present. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in what we reviewed, so a parent whose child falls into either population should ask the school directly about services.
On Florida's FAST assessments, the most recent results show performance that lands above the midpoint relative to the other districts in Alachua County. In third grade, reading results are solid, with roughly three in five students scoring proficient. Math in third grade comes in at a similar range. By fourth grade, math proficiency climbs noticeably, a meaningful jump that suggests the school may be building computational foundation effectively across the elementary years. ELA in fourth grade holds at about the same level as third grade. These are reasonable results, not exceptional by Florida state standards, but competitive within the county comparison set. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether scores are climbing, flat, or declining. A parent who wants to see trajectory should ask the school for its internal progress data.
Because the school serves only pre-K through fourth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and none of the high school outcome measures apply here.
The Alachua district recently renewed its One Mill property tax, which publicly reported accounts indicate funds arts teachers, music, drama, band, chorus, school nurses, librarians, and counselors across all county schools. That renewal runs through 2029 and, according to published reporting, sustains a meaningful share of district staff districtwide, including at elementary schools like Newberry. For a family evaluating program depth at an elementary level, that funding backstop matters.
Newberry itself is in a genuinely active growth phase. Multiple large master-planned residential developments have been approved or are under construction, and the city has grown steadily over the past decade while still working to build out its commercial base. Publicly reported sources describe it as a close-knit, family-oriented small town with a walkable historic downtown, significant sports and recreation infrastructure, and a county library branch that was expanded in recent years. Car dependence is the norm; the community is not walkable beyond the historic core. The Easton-Newberry Sports Complex and a large tournament baseball and softball facility bring visitors and shape weekend life in ways that give the town more activity than its size alone would suggest.
Housing in the Newberry zip code is priced modestly below the Florida state median, and values have edged down slightly year over year. Rents have moved in the opposite direction, rising modestly. The rent-to-income ratio sits at a level that remains within a broadly workable range, though mortgage carrying costs depend heavily on individual circumstances and current rates.
Chronic absenteeism data was not available for this school, and no information on discipline or staffing ratios appeared in the data we reviewed. Program offerings beyond what the district's One Mill tax supports were not detailed in available sources. A parent who wants specifics on enrichment, intervention supports, or extracurricular offerings at the elementary level should go directly to the school.
For a family moving to or already in Newberry, this is the local public elementary option for the primary grades, embedded in a community that is growing quickly and investing in infrastructure to keep pace. The academic profile is solid within its county context, the student body is economically and racially diverse, and the district funding environment appears stable through the near term.
See more original research from School Decision →