The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in Math. The lowest is 33% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
Thurgood Marshall Elementary sits on NW 13th Street in Fort Lauderdale's northwest quadrant, a neighborhood that reads quite differently from the waterfront enclaves and downtown condo towers that define much of the city's public image. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade within Broward County Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in the country.
The student body is small for a full elementary school. The overwhelming majority of students are Black, with a smaller share of Hispanic students and very few white students. A substantial majority qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this among schools serving a high-poverty population. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in what we reviewed.
State assessment results from Florida's FAST and Statewide Science Assessment paint a mixed picture that parents should look at carefully. In third-grade math, a clear majority of students tested proficient, which is a genuine strength. That proficiency level drops notably in fourth grade, and by fifth grade fewer than half of students are reaching the proficient threshold. The pattern in reading is more concerning across the board: in third, fourth, and fifth grade, proficiency rates in ELA fall well below the majority mark, with fifth grade the lowest. Fifth-grade science results are similar in range to fifth-grade ELA. Trend data across years was not available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether results are improving, holding steady, or declining. A parent would reasonably want to ask the school directly about what academic supports are in place, particularly for reading and upper-elementary math.
No information on program offerings, attendance, chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing ratios was available in the data we reviewed. Magnet or special program designations do not apply here; this is a regular neighborhood public elementary school. The school's Title I status was not confirmed in our data, though the economic profile of the student body would make that worth asking the school about, as Title I designation often brings supplemental federal funding for tutoring and other supports.
The surrounding neighborhood sits well west of Fort Lauderdale's downtown building boom, which is concentrated along the New River, Las Olas Boulevard, and Flagler Village. That downtown transformation, publicly reported to include well over a dozen towers under construction and many more in review, has pushed citywide housing values to a level that now exceeds the Florida statewide average. Near the school's zip code, home values have pulled back modestly year over year while rents have edged up, and the rent-to-income burden in this area is steep by national standards. For families renting in the neighborhood, housing costs consume a disproportionate share of income, which is relevant context for understanding the pressures many families at this school face.
Fort Lauderdale's broader civic infrastructure, including the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the Museum of Discovery and Science, and the county's main library, all cluster downtown and are accessible by Broward County Transit, which is publicly reported as the second-largest transit system in Florida. Whether those amenities are easily reachable for families near this school depends on individual circumstances and transit access from the northwest side.
The Broward district brief returned no confirmed parent-relevant changes before our search budget was exhausted, so we left that section out rather than guess at district priorities or initiatives.
For a family zoned to Thurgood Marshall, the clearest takeaway from the available data is that early-grade math stands out as a relative strength, while reading proficiency across all tested grades and upper-grade math are areas where the school's results fall short of what most families would hope for their children. Those gaps are worth a direct conversation with school leadership about instructional approach, reading intervention programs, and how the school tracks and responds to individual student progress.
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