Pinemount Elementary School, Lake City FL

Original Research by School Decision on Pinemount Elementary School

Pinemount Elementary sits on the southwest side of Lake City, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Columbia County's only public school district. It is a conventional public elementary school with no charter or magnet designation.

The student body is a majority-white school with meaningful Black and Hispanic enrollment and a notable share of students identifying as two or more races. A large portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic character of the surrounding community. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in what was provided.

On Florida's FAST assessments, the math picture is the stronger one. Third and fourth graders are scoring well above the midpoint, a genuine strength. Fifth-grade math proficiency drops off noticeably, though it still represents the majority of students tested at that grade. ELA tells a different story. Third-grade reading proficiency is moderate, fourth grade falls below the majority, and fifth-grade ELA proficiency dips to just under half of tested students. The fifth-grade science score is similarly mixed, with slightly more than half of students reaching proficiency on the Florida Statewide Science Assessment. Parents looking more closely at reading development, particularly in the upper elementary years, may want to ask the school about its literacy support approaches and what interventions are in place for students who fall behind. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving, holding, or declining.

No information on program offerings, course access, staffing ratios, attendance, or discipline was included in what was provided, so those dimensions of school life cannot be addressed here.

The school sits in Lake City, the seat of Columbia County and the commercial hub for a largely rural stretch of North Florida. The city has a traditional Southern character, a walkable historic downtown anchored by Lake DeSoto, and outdoor access including Alligator Lake Park with miles of trails and canoe access to the Suwannee River corridor. The broader urban fabric is car-oriented, with commercial development clustering along US-90 and the Interstate 75 corridor. Major employers include HCA Florida Lake City Hospital, Florida Gateway College, Anderson Columbia Co., and a mix of government and retail employers. Public transit is limited.

The housing market around Pinemount is moderately priced relative to the Florida statewide benchmark, running meaningfully below the state median home value and close to the national figure. Home values have been rising, new single-family construction is active, and an affordable housing development is underway downtown with additional phases planned. The price-to-income ratio locally is relatively accessible by national standards, which distinguishes Lake City from Florida's higher-cost metros.

At the district level, Columbia County voters approved a half-cent sales surtax for school facilities that is now funding a significant consolidation: four older elementary schools are being replaced by two new ones. The new Niblack Elementary is in design phase. This plan will reshape school boundaries and facilities for county families over the coming years, and it is worth confirming with the district how Pinemount's attendance zone and building status factor into that longer-term footprint. The district has also adopted a parent-choice process for library and media materials, aligned to Florida state statutes, giving families a direct role in determining their student's reading selections and media center access.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 376%

School 76% · District 67% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 478%

School 78% · District 63% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 60% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 57% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 51% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 51% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 50% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

This schoolCOLUMBIA, 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-income53%Higher-income86%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income51%Higher-income70%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income41%Higher-income59%19 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income67%Higher-income90%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income73%Higher-income90%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income58%Higher-income73%15 pp gap