Robert M. Paterson Elementary, Orange Park FL

Original Research by School Decision on Robert M. Paterson Elementary

Robert M. Paterson Elementary sits on Pine Avenue in Orange Park, a small incorporated town on the western shore of the St. Johns River in northeastern Clay County, about a short drive south of downtown Jacksonville. The school serves prekindergarten through sixth grade, which means it covers more ground than a typical elementary and carries students through what most Florida districts call middle school's first year.

The academic picture here is genuinely strong. On Florida's FAST assessments in the most recent school year, math proficiency across tested grades ranged from the mid-eighties into the mid-nineties, with third, fourth, and sixth graders performing at the high end of that range. ELA results follow a similar shape: third and sixth graders scored in the low nineties, while fourth and fifth graders were in the low-to-mid eighties. Fifth-grade science, measured by Florida's Statewide Science Assessment, landed in the mid-eighties. Taken together, the school's proficiency rates across subjects are high relative to what Florida typically reports statewide, and there are no conspicuous weak spots that would prompt alarm. A parent who wants to understand whether any one grade or subject group drives those results would benefit from asking the school directly, since multi-year trend data was not available in what we reviewed.

The enrollment is moderate-sized for a school serving this many grade levels. The student body skews toward white but includes meaningful shares of Hispanic, multiracial, Black, and Asian students. Roughly a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Paterson well below the typical Title I threshold. Data on IEP rates and English learner populations were not reported in the records we reviewed, so parents of students who may need those services should ask the school about caseloads and programming.

Civil rights data was not included in the available records, so discipline patterns, chronic absenteeism, and course access could not be assessed here. The school does not offer high school grades, so graduation rate does not apply. No specific program offerings were listed in the data we received.

Orange Park itself is a car-oriented suburban town, largely built out, with daily life organized around busy commercial corridors rather than a walkable core. The town is actively planning a town square near Town Hall to create more of a civic center than currently exists, but that is a future aspiration. Regional bus service through JTA connects the town to Orange Park Mall, the medical center, the library, and onward to Jacksonville. For families considering housing, home values in this zip code run modestly above the Florida state median and noticeably above the national median, with rents that have ticked up slightly over the past year. The local housing market is relatively stable; the larger growth activity in Clay County is happening in surrounding unincorporated areas like Oakleaf and Lake Asbury rather than within Orange Park's town limits, where infill and small-scale development are the norm.

The Clay County School District is headquartered in Green Cove Springs. We searched for recent district-level changes relevant to parents but were not able to confirm any lasting policy or program shifts before our research concluded, so we left that section out rather than speculate.

For a family weighing options, Paterson's academic results are a clear strength for a public elementary in this part of Florida. The school's extended grade band, running through sixth grade, means families will not need to navigate a middle school transition until seventh grade. The surrounding community is suburban and family-oriented, with proximity to Jacksonville employment and the St. Johns River, though it asks residents to drive for most daily needs.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 394%

School 94% · District 66% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 495%

School 95% · District 63% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 586%

School 86% · District 55% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 694%

School 94% · District 77% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 394%

School 94% · District 65% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 481%

School 81% · District 59% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 56% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 692%

School 92% · District 67% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Science

Grade 586%

School 86% · District 61% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

This schoolCLAY, 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-income89%Higher-income97%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income76%Higher-income83%7 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income71%Higher-income89%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income90%Higher-income93%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income89%Higher-income97%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income92%Higher-income96%4 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income68%Higher-income95%28 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income87%Higher-income99%12 pp gap