The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in Math. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Riverland Elementary School
Riverland Elementary sits in Fort Lauderdale's southwest quadrant, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the Broward County district. The enrollment is moderate for a PK-5 school. The student body is majority Hispanic and Black, with these two groups together comprising nearly all of the enrollment. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Riverland in the higher end of economic need for an elementary school. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided.
On the most recent Florida state assessments, the picture is mixed and a parent should look carefully at the grade-by-grade patterns. Math proficiency runs from the low fifties in third grade to the upper fifties in fourth and fifth grade, which puts a majority of tested students at or above the state's proficiency bar. That is the stronger side of the academic picture here. Reading and ELA tell a different story. Third-grade ELA proficiency is well below half, meaning most third graders tested below grade level in reading, which is a notable concern given Florida's emphasis on third-grade reading as a gateway. Fourth grade recovers considerably, reaching just over half proficient, and fifth grade falls back into the mid-forties. Fifth-grade science proficiency is similarly low, just under a third of students reaching the benchmark on the statewide science assessment. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from the data alone whether these results are improving, holding, or declining. A parent would be well-served to ask the school directly about its reading intervention approach, particularly for the early grades.
No program information was provided for Riverland, so it is not possible to characterize specialized offerings, enrichment tracks, or after-school programs from this data. Title I status was not reported, though the school's economic profile would typically make it eligible for such federal support; a parent may want to confirm this with the school or district. The comparison fact-set for Broward County contained only one district, so no meaningful peer comparison was possible.
The surrounding neighborhood reflects the broader southwest Fort Lauderdale area, which sits apart from the high-rise downtown transformation concentrated along the New River and Las Olas corridor. That building cycle, publicly reported as one of the most active in the city's history, is primarily reshaping the downtown core and Flagler Village rather than this part of the city. Fort Lauderdale overall carries well-known characteristics: the canal system and boating culture, beach access, and a civic infrastructure that includes major performing arts, science, and transit amenities downtown. The Broward County main library and Brightline rail station are within the city, though reaching them from the southwest typically involves a drive.
On housing, the zip code where Riverland sits carries home values noticeably above both the Florida state median and the national median, and they have dipped modestly year over year. Rents in the area are also above the national median and have been roughly flat recently. The ratio of estimated mortgage payment to typical income points to a stretched affordability picture, and the share of income that a typical renter would spend on rent here is high by national standards, though still somewhat competitive with a mortgage payment. This is not a cheap entry point into Fort Lauderdale.
For Broward County district-level changes, the research did not surface confirmed recent shifts in policy, programming, or leadership, so that context is absent here rather than assumed.
Riverland is a school with a predominantly Black and Hispanic student population, high economic need, and math results that are at least at the midpoint while reading and science lag behind. A family prioritizing early literacy strength would want to have a direct conversation with the school about its instructional approach and intervention supports before enrolling.
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