Starke Elementary School, Starke FL

Original Research by School Decision on Starke Elementary School

Starke Elementary sits on West Weldon Street in Starke, the seat of Bradford County in northeast Florida. It serves children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, making it the foundational school for most of the county's youngest learners before they move on to a separate middle or high school setting. The enrollment is on the larger side for a rural county elementary, and a substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which means the school operates in an economically stretched community context. The student body is predominantly white with meaningful Black and Hispanic populations, and a share of students identify as multiracial.

On Florida's FAST assessments in the most recent year, the results are uneven in ways a parent should look at grade by grade rather than as a single summary. Third-grade reading stands out as a relative strength, with most students reaching proficiency, and sixth-grade math results are strong. Fifth-grade math and ELA are the weaker spots, with fewer than half of fifth graders reaching proficiency in reading, a pattern worth raising directly with the school to understand what interventions are in place. Fourth-grade ELA is also below the midpoint. Science results from the fifth-grade state science assessment come in around the middle of the range. No multi-year trend data was available to say whether these numbers are moving up or down, though the district brief notes publicly reported gains across Bradford County on the 2024-25 tests in several grade bands, including a jump in third-grade ELA, which matches the stronger reading result at this school.

The district uses a data-monitoring model built around Renaissance Star assessments in reading, math, and early literacy, applied across all grades. Parents reportedly receive progress reports tied to this system, and students have access to a digital reading platform. This is a specific, trackable approach to intervention, and families can ask the school how their child's Star scores translate into classroom support.

Data on special education rates and English learner enrollment was not available in the data provided, so a parent with children in either population would want to ask the school directly about what those services look like.

The housing market in the Starke area is considerably more affordable than the Florida statewide norm, with typical home values well below the state median and showing modest appreciation. That affordability gap is one of the starker contrasts between Bradford County and the broader Florida market, and it partly reflects the county's rural, working-class economy. Major employers in the area include state corrections facilities, a regional healthcare provider, manufacturing operations, CSX rail, and retail. The Bradford County School District itself is one of the larger public employers in the county.

Starke as a place has the bones of a small county seat: a historic downtown anchored by Call Street, the old county courthouse, and the Florida Twin Theatre. The Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail, built on a former rail corridor, provides a recreational asset. Day-to-day errands run along a highway retail corridor that is more auto-oriented than walkable. The broader region sits within reasonable distance of both Gainesville and Jacksonville, giving families with employment or medical needs in those cities a connection to larger metros without paying metro housing prices.

Civil rights data was not available in the provided data. Program offerings beyond what is implied by the grade band and district instructional approach were not documented, so questions about enrichment, gifted services, or extracurriculars are worth directing to the school. The comparison set for Bradford County contains only one district, so no meaningful peer comparison on proficiency or attendance is possible from the available data.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 54% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 50% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 55% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median

Grade 683%

School 83% · District 82% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 68% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 45% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 54% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 61% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 58% · ▼ 5 pts below district

even with state median

This schoolBRADFORD, 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 3Lower-income69%Higher-income70%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income48%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income46%14 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income62%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income70%20 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income49%Higher-income60%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income52%22 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income89%Higher-income75%14 pp gap