The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in Math. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Hialeah Elementary School
Hialeah Elementary sits on East 8th Street in Hialeah, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The school is a regular public school, not a charter, and draws from one of the most densely Cuban-American communities in the United States. The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with nearly all enrolled students identifying that way. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this firmly in the economically working-class range for the Miami-Dade area. Data on English learner classification and special education participation were not reported in what we reviewed, so parents with children in those categories should ask the school directly about services and caseloads.
On state assessments, Hialeah Elementary's results, drawn from Florida's FAST and Statewide Science Assessment for the most recent school year available, show room for growth. In third grade math, roughly half or more of students tested at proficiency, which is the strongest result across the tested grades and subjects. Fourth grade math sits right around the halfway mark, and fifth grade math falls noticeably below it. ELA proficiency in third through fifth grades clusters in the low-to-mid forties. Fifth grade science is the lowest result reported, with less than a third of students reaching proficiency. These are below the midpoint on most measures, and a parent weighing academic preparation pathways should ask the school what intervention supports are in place and how progress is tracked from year to year. Trend data across multiple years was not available, so there is no way from this data alone to know whether results are improving, holding steady, or declining.
Graduation rate is not applicable here, as the school ends at fifth grade.
The school sits in a broader Miami-Dade district that is navigating real structural change. Publicly reported coverage indicates the district is contending with sustained enrollment decline and has proposed closing or consolidating up to nine schools across its regions. Families new to the area should be aware that attendance boundaries are being reconsidered and grade configurations at some campuses may shift. Miami-Dade voters approved a property-tax measure in late 2022 to fund teacher compensation and campus safety, and that levy is set to expire in 2027 unless renewed. A statewide cell phone policy is also in motion, with Florida legislation requiring a district-level rule in place by the end of 2026.
The surrounding community is dense and urban. Hialeah is publicly reported as one of Florida's largest cities, packed into roughly twenty square miles, shaped heavily by Cuban cultural life, and networked by Metrorail and Tri-Rail connections that reach downtown Miami and points into Broward and Palm Beach counties. Local employers include major hospitals and an industrial and warehouse sector that generates significant commercial traffic near rail and highway corridors. Parks such as Amelia Earhart Park provide meaningful green space. The city is actively developing transit-oriented mixed-use districts near its rail stations, with several large residential projects underway or in planning, so the neighborhood around the school is in a period of physical change.
Housing in the zip code carrying this school reflects Miami-Dade's broader cost pressures. Median home values sit well above both the state and national benchmarks. Rents have been climbing modestly year over year. The rent-to-income burden is high by national standards, and estimated monthly mortgage costs on a typical home here are substantial relative to most households' incomes. For families considering buying near the school, the price-to-income ratio is meaningfully above national norms, and that gap has not closed recently.
For a family already rooted in Hialeah's Cuban-American community, or one drawn to that cultural environment and to the transit access the city offers, this school provides a neighborhood pre-K through fifth grade option within that setting. The academic results as reported are modest, and parents who want to understand what instructional support looks like for children who are below grade level would benefit from a direct conversation with school staff before enrolling.
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