Leisure City K-8 Center, Homestead FL

Original Research by School Decision on Leisure City K-8 Center

Leisure City K-8 Center is a regular public school in Homestead, at the southern tip of Miami-Dade County, serving students from pre-K through eighth grade. It sits within the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district and draws from a community that is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with a large share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school's enrollment is on the larger side for a PK-8 building. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs were not available in what we received.

On Florida's FAST assessments, the academic picture is mixed and worth looking at grade by grade. In the elementary grades, math proficiency runs in the low-to-mid range, with fourth grade standing out as notably lower than the others. Fifth-grade science proficiency is also in the lower range. ELA scores across third through fifth grade fall in a similar band, with fifth grade being the weakest point in that stretch. The middle school grades tell a somewhat different story: sixth through eighth grade math proficiency climbs into the majority range, and ELA scores in sixth grade are the strongest in the building. Seventh- and eighth-grade ELA land roughly in the middle. Eighth-grade science proficiency is low, with fewer than one in four students scoring proficient. The overall pattern is that the school's middle grades appear to show better results on state testing than the elementary grades, particularly in math, though neither tier is uniformly strong. Parents may want to ask the school directly about what supports are in place, especially for reading and science in the elementary years. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these results reflect improvement, decline, or stability over time.

No information on specific program offerings, course access, staffing ratios, attendance rates, or discipline data was included in the data provided. Because this school stops at eighth grade, graduation rate is not a relevant metric here.

Comparison proficiency data relative to other districts in Miami-Dade County was not calculable from what was available, so we cannot place this school against its county peers on that measure.

The surrounding neighborhood, known as Leisure City, sits just north of Homestead proper. Homestead itself is a fast-growing, car-oriented city with a historic downtown that is actively being revitalized. Civic anchors include a recently opened public library, a downtown entertainment complex, a transit hub, and a bus rapid transit corridor connecting to the broader Miami-Dade transit network. The city's economy is anchored by agriculture, healthcare, the Air Reserve Base, and tourism tied to the Everglades and Florida Keys. Housing values in the area are above the state midpoint and have declined modestly year over year, while rents remain high relative to typical incomes, with rent consuming a substantial share of median household income.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools is navigating real structural change. Enrollment district-wide has been falling, and in spring 2026 the district proposed closing or consolidating up to nine schools, some of them reconfigured into new grade structures including K-8 models. Families considering a home near Leisure City K-8 Center should be aware that boundary changes and school reassignments are actively under discussion at the district level, and the situation may not be settled before the next school year. The district is also responding to a Florida legislative push toward a full school-day cell phone ban, with a statewide policy expected by the end of 2026.

A property-tax referendum approved by voters will continue to fund teacher pay and school safety staffing through 2027, when it expires unless voters renew it. That levy represents a direct, ongoing cost for homeowners in the district.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 69% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 68% · ▼ 44 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 62% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 64% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 54% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 863%

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

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 60% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 59% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 60% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 657%

School 57% · District 63% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 62% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 60% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 56% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 46% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

This schoolMIAMI-DADE, 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-income45%Higher-income32%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income41%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income41%9 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income58%Higher-income54%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income54%Higher-income45%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income46%Higher-income55%9 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income52%Higher-income32%20 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income22%Higher-income32%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income36%Higher-income60%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income56%Higher-income51%5 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income73%Higher-income53%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income66%Higher-income60%6 pp gap