Charles Drew Elementary School, Pompano Beach FL

Original Research by School Decision on Charles Drew Elementary School

Charles Drew Elementary sits on the northwest side of Pompano Beach, a part of the city that sits well away from the beachfront redevelopment happening along A1A and the Atlantic Boulevard corridor. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within Broward County Public Schools, and its enrollment places it in a modest size range for an elementary school of this grade span.

The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with the two groups together making up the large majority of enrollment. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school clearly within a higher-need economic context. IEP and English learner rates were not available in the data.

State assessment results from Florida's FAST and Statewide Science Assessment give a mixed academic picture. Math proficiency across the tested grades runs solidly, with the fourth and fifth grades performing particularly well by state standards, and third grade not far behind. Science at fifth grade comes in at a comparable level. Reading and ELA tell a different story: third and fourth grade ELA proficiency sits well below the math figures and well below what most families would consider comfortable ground, while fifth grade ELA proficiency jumps to a substantially stronger level. That gap between the earlier and later grades in reading is the kind of pattern a parent would want to raise directly with the school, asking what supports are in place for younger readers and how progress is tracked year to year. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether results are improving, holding, or declining.

Comparison against other districts in Broward County was not possible from the available data because the comparison set contained only one district, so no peer positioning is reported here.

Program details were not included in the data provided, and the school's website was not surfaced, so specifics on enrichment, after-school offerings, or specialized programming are gaps a parent should fill by contacting the school directly.

The surrounding neighborhood in northwest Pompano Beach is inland and car-dependent, in contrast to the walkable beachfront and civic core being redeveloped downtown. Pompano Beach as a whole is in a pronounced development phase, publicly reported, with luxury projects reshaping the coastline and a major mixed-use downtown overhaul underway along Atlantic Boulevard. That investment is concentrated in areas geographically and economically removed from the school's immediate neighborhood. The local housing market near the school's zip code reflects home values meaningfully below the Florida state benchmark, and prices have moved downward year over year. Rents remain high relative to income by any standard measure, with rent consuming a very large share of a typical household budget at current asking rates. For families weighing housing costs alongside school choice, the affordability pressure in this zip code is real even if the price point is lower than much of Broward.

Broward County Public Schools district-level strategic priorities were searched but could not be confirmed within the available research, so district context beyond the school itself was left out rather than assumed.

For a family zoned here, Charles Drew offers real math and science results at the upper elementary level that should not be dismissed. The ELA gap in the earlier grades is the clearest area to probe further. The school serves a community with significant economic need, and what it does with that context, specifically in early literacy, is the most direct question to ask before enrolling a young reader.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 68% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 477%

School 77% · District 69% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 63% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 61% · ▼ 22 pts below district

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

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 62% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 62% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 57% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

This schoolBROWARD, 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-income35%Higher-income48%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income29%13 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income78%Higher-income50%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income66%Higher-income65%0 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income71%Higher-income100%29 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income72%Higher-income67%5 pp gap