The top reported proficiency rate is 66% in Math. The lowest is 52% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Parkside Elementary School
Parkside Elementary sits on Texas Avenue in Naples, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within Collier County Public Schools. The school draws a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with a meaningful share of Black students and a very small white population. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing Parkside among the more economically disadvantaged elementary campuses in the county context. English learner and special education population data were not available in the records we reviewed.
On Florida's FAST assessments in the most recent school year, Parkside's results are mixed and worth looking at carefully. Math proficiency varies noticeably across grades: third grade came in below the majority mark, fifth grade fell in the low-to-mid range, and fourth grade was meaningfully stronger, sitting comfortably above the midpoint. ELA results follow a similar uneven pattern. Third grade reading proficiency was the softest result in the data, under half of students reaching the proficient bar. Fifth grade reading was close to half, and fourth grade ELA was the strongest of the three, above the midpoint. Fifth-grade science proficiency landed just above half. Trend data across years was not available, so it is not possible to say from this data alone whether scores are moving up, holding, or declining. Parents who want to understand momentum and what the school is doing to push these numbers should ask directly, particularly given the district's publicly reported shift toward structured, explicit phonics instruction in the early grades, which began in the 2023-24 school year and is aimed at exactly the population Parkside serves.
There is no graduation rate for Parkside, as the school does not serve secondary grades. Program details specific to this campus were not available in the data provided.
The broader Collier County district has been active. Voters renewed a tax-neutral referendum in November 2024 that shifts a portion of capital funds to operations, publicly reported to support teacher compensation, arts, and athletics through 2029 without raising taxes. That sustained funding flexibility matters for families planning to stay in the county through their child's elementary years and beyond. The district also opened a new high school in North Naples in 2023, the first in the county in nearly two decades, carrying career academies in several technical and professional fields, though that campus is in a different part of the county from Parkside's zip code.
The housing market around Parkside is expensive relative to both the state and national benchmarks. Typical home values in the zip code are well above the Florida median and the national median, and rents are high enough that they consume a substantial share of a median household's income, a ratio that points toward real affordability pressure for families considering this neighborhood. Home values in the zip have declined somewhat year over year, while rents have held roughly flat. The monthly carrying cost on a typical purchase, even at current rates, puts homeownership out of reach for many of the families whose children attend Parkside, which helps explain the economic composition of the student body.
Naples itself is a Gulf-coast city with a recognizable identity: a walkable, low-rise historic core along Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South, cultural venues including the Gulfshore Playhouse and von Liebig Art Center, public gathering spaces like Cambier Park with its seasonal concerts, and easy access to beaches and the Naples Pier. The city's character is shaped by the contrast between its upscale residential and commercial fabric and a school population that is largely working-class and economically stretched. That contrast is visible in Parkside's numbers.
For families choosing Parkside, the picture is of a school serving a high-need community with room to grow academically. The fourth-grade results in both math and ELA show what is possible within the same building. The early-literacy curriculum shift at the district level is a reasonable signal of intent, and a parent would do well to ask the school directly what that looks like in the classroom and how reading support is structured for students who arrive below grade level.
See more original research from School Decision →