The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in Math. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Carol City Elementary School
Carol City Elementary School is a public PreK-through-fifth-grade school in Miami Gardens, serving a small enrollment for its grade band. The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, and a large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic character of the surrounding neighborhood. Data on English learner rates and students with individualized education programs were not available in what was provided.
The school sits within Miami-Dade County Public Schools, one of the largest urban districts in the country. On Florida's statewide FAST assessments for the most recent school year, Carol City's proficiency results are a mixed picture that parents should weigh carefully. In third grade, more than half of students reached the math proficiency threshold, and fourth graders performed somewhat better still, suggesting a reasonable foundation in early-elementary numeracy. ELA results were lower across the board, with fewer than half of third graders reaching proficiency and that share declining in fourth and fifth grade. The fifth-grade math result was quite low, meaningfully below the earlier grades, and fifth-grade science proficiency was also modest. These are not catastrophic numbers in absolute terms, but they do indicate that a sizable portion of students, particularly in the upper elementary grades, are not yet reaching state proficiency benchmarks. A parent considering this school may want to ask staff directly about how reading development and the transition to upper-grade content are being supported, especially given the drop-off in fifth-grade results. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether outcomes are improving, holding steady, or declining.
No information on program offerings, staffing ratios, attendance patterns, or disciplinary climate was provided in the data, which limits the picture here. The school is not designated as a magnet or charter; it is a standard neighborhood public school.
Miami Gardens itself provides a fair amount of context for families thinking about this address. The city is the third-largest in Miami-Dade County, covering roughly twenty square miles of predominantly residential and auto-oriented commercial development. Publicly reported sources describe it as car-dependent with a low walkability rating, a built environment of strip malls, surface parking, and highway corridors. That said, the city is in an active growth phase. A major city center development broke ground recently along the NW 27th Avenue corridor near Hard Rock Stadium, and new industrial and logistics space is in the pipeline. The city operates a free circulator bus service, Metrobus routes, and has Tri-Rail access along its southeastern border. The Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex anchors a parks system with eighteen municipal facilities. Major employment anchors include Hard Rock Stadium, Jackson North Medical Center, St. Thomas University, and Florida Memorial University.
Housing near the school carries a price tag that sits notably above the Florida statewide median and well above the national median, making this a costly entry point despite the neighborhood's modest-income character. Rents are also elevated relative to income, with rent consuming a substantial share of a typical household's earnings. Both home values and rents have edged slightly downward year over year, which may reflect a broader softening in the South Florida market rather than any sharp shift.
At the district level, a voter-approved property tax levy funds teacher compensation and campus safety staffing and is set to expire in 2027 unless renewed, which is a direct cost consideration for homeowners. More immediately relevant: Miami-Dade is managing sustained enrollment decline, and the district publicly proposed closing or consolidating up to nine schools across its regions for the coming school year. Families considering a move into this attendance zone should verify that Carol City Elementary's assignment status is stable, since boundary and grade-configuration changes are actively underway. Separately, a statewide cell phone policy requiring district compliance by end of 2026 will affect classroom rules across the district.
Comparison data relative to districts in Miami-Dade County was not computed because the comparison cohort was too small to produce a meaningful index.
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