The top reported proficiency rate is 81% in Math. The lowest is 71% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Hawkes Bluff Elementary School
Hawkes Bluff Elementary sits at the western edge of Broward County, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Southwest Ranches, a town that incorporated specifically to stay rural. The surrounding community is defined by horse ranches, agricultural lots, estate homes on an acre or more, and a deliberate absence of sidewalks. Residents access retail, dining, and healthcare by driving to adjacent cities like Weston, Davie, and Pembroke Pines. The town has no downtown and no municipal library, though the Broward County library system presumably fills that gap. Civic life leans on an extensive network of trails and parks, including the Southwest Meadows Sanctuary, which hosts a weekly farmers market and an annual county fair. Growth in Southwest Ranches is active but low-density, steered toward luxury estate developments, which keeps the built environment quiet and the housing market expensive.
The housing picture here is among the more consequential facts for any family thinking about buying in this attendance zone. Typical home values are dramatically above both the Florida state median and the national median, and estimated monthly mortgage payments at current rates would consume a very large share of household income for most buyers. Rents in the zip code are also well above typical levels, and the rent-to-income burden sits at a demanding level by any standard. The market has softened slightly year over year, but the zone remains among the pricier in South Florida.
On academics, Hawkes Bluff posts strong state assessment results across the grades it serves. Florida's FAST assessments, reported here for grades three through five, show math proficiency running well above the majority of schools statewide at every tested grade, with third grade posting the highest results and scores remaining solid through fifth. Reading and ELA proficiency follows a similar pattern, with third grade again at the top and fifth grade somewhat lower but still comfortably above where most Florida elementary schools land. Fifth-grade science, assessed through the Florida Statewide Science Assessment, also shows a strong majority of students performing at or above grade-level expectations. These are genuinely good academic numbers, not just respectable ones.
Because the school serves only pre-K through grade five, there is no graduation rate to report, and the neighbor comparison data does not yield a usable proficiency ranking because Broward County's comparison pool collapses to a single district, making a relative position meaningless here. Chronic absenteeism data was not available.
The student body is racially and ethnically diverse. Hispanic students make up the largest share, followed by white students, with smaller Asian, Black, and multiracial populations. Less than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a relatively low economic need rate by Florida standards and reflects the affluence of the surrounding community. Data on students with IEPs and English learner counts were not reported, so a parent wanting to understand special education services or English language programming would need to ask the school directly.
Program details were not included in the available data, so the breadth of enrichment, arts, or intervention offerings at Hawkes Bluff is not something this account can speak to. The district brief for Broward County did not surface any specific parent-relevant policy changes in time for this report, so that section was left out rather than filled with guesses.
What Hawkes Bluff offers, plainly stated, is strong academic performance in a low-density, quiet, rural-feeling community where the housing cost of entry is genuinely high. Families drawn to large-lot living, equestrian access, and above-average elementary test outcomes will find a school whose numbers support that choice. Families with students who need intensive special education or English learner services should press the school for specifics, since that data was absent here.
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