Deerfield Beach Middle School, Deerfield Beach FL

Original Research by School Decision on Deerfield Beach Middle School

Deerfield Beach Middle School sits in eastern Deerfield Beach, a coastal city in northern Broward County where beach-town residential neighborhoods run up against commercial corridors, industrial uses, and corporate headquarters. The school serves sixth through eighth graders in the Broward County public school district, drawing from a community that is actively redeveloping its downtown core through a Community Redevelopment Agency, with new mixed-use housing and streetscape projects moving forward along Federal Highway and Hillsboro Boulevard.

The student body is a majority-Black school with a substantial Hispanic population and a smaller share of white students. Well over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this a school that serves a population carrying real economic pressures. Data on English learner and IEP rates were not available in what we reviewed, so parents with students in those categories may want to ask the school directly about those supports.

On state assessments, the picture is one a parent should look at honestly. Florida reports FAST scores by grade level, and across sixth, seventh, and eighth grade in both math and ELA, proficiency rates sit below the midpoint. Math is the softer area: sixth grade is just under half of students reaching proficiency, seventh grade is noticeably lower, and eighth grade is considerably lower still. ELA is somewhat more even across grades, with sixth and eighth grade at similar levels and seventh grade a step behind. The eighth-grade science assessment, which Florida tests at that grade, shows roughly a third of students reaching proficiency. These are the reported numbers from 2024-25; the data does not include prior-year trends, so whether the school is moving or holding steady is not something the available data can answer. A parent may want to ask the school about growth metrics and any targeted academic interventions, particularly in math.

The comparison framework was not applicable here because Broward County has only one district in the county dataset, so there is no meaningful peer positioning to offer against neighboring districts.

Deerfield Beach itself has real assets that shape the environment around this school. The city has Tri-Rail and Amtrak access at its historic downtown station, Broward County bus routes, and proximity to a Brightline station to the north. Parks include Quiet Waters Park, Deerfield Island Park, and the beachfront boardwalk area. Major employers headquartered locally include JM Family Enterprises, MAPEI, and others across automotive, construction, healthcare, and logistics sectors. The housing market around the school reflects South Florida pricing: values sit above both the state and national medians, with rents consuming a very large share of a typical household's income. Year-over-year home values have declined modestly while rents have ticked upward, a combination that makes the area expensive to enter for buyers and stretched for renters.

Broward County's district brief did not yield confirmed recent policy or program changes we could report with confidence, so we left that section out rather than speculate.

For a family zoned here, the school offers a neighborhood middle school pathway in a community with transit access, active civic reinvestment, and a recognizable sense of place near the coast. The academic performance data, particularly in math at the upper grades, is an area worth exploring further with the school before drawing conclusions about fit.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 63% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 59% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 47% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 65% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 60% · ▼ 21 pts below district

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

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 59% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 45% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below 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 6Lower-income41%Higher-income46%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income40%Higher-income38%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income40%Higher-income46%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income43%Higher-income49%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income43%Higher-income36%7 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income18%4 pp gap