Miami Lakes K-8 Center, Hialeah FL

Original Research by School Decision on Miami Lakes K-8 Center

Miami Lakes K-8 Center sits at the northern edge of Hialeah in Miami-Dade County, serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The school is a regular public school within Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and with an enrollment that puts it well into the large range for a K-8 building, it functions as a substantial community anchor in a densely residential, heavily Cuban-American part of the metro area.

The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, reflecting the surrounding neighborhood. About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making the school a genuinely mixed economic environment rather than either a high-poverty or affluent campus. Data on English learner and special education enrollment was not available in the data provided.

On Florida's FAST assessments, the school's academic picture is uneven and worth examining closely. In the early and middle elementary grades, math proficiency is strong, with third- and fourth-grade students performing well above what you'd call a majority-passing threshold, and sixth grade is comparably solid. Those are genuine strengths. Reading and ELA shows a more consistent middle range across grades three through eight, generally with a solid majority of students reaching proficiency at most grade levels. Where the picture softens is in fifth and eighth grade math, where proficiency drops noticeably compared to other grades, and in eighth grade science, where less than half of students tested as proficient. Fifth grade science sits just above half. These are not catastrophic numbers, but the fifth-to-eighth grade math pattern in particular is something a parent should ask the school about directly. No multi-year trend data was available to assess whether these numbers are improving or holding steady.

Because this school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate and no AP or dual-enrollment pathway here; those are simply outside the scope of what a K-8 center offers.

The surrounding community of Hialeah is publicly reported as one of Florida's largest cities by population, packed into a compact urban footprint. The texture is distinctly Cuban-American, with local cafeterias, flea markets, and small businesses woven into commercial corridors alongside industrial zones near rail lines. Walkability is uneven citywide but more functional near the Palm Springs Mile corridor and around parks. The neighborhood surrounding the school benefits from Hialeah's unusual transit access by Florida standards, with Metrorail and Tri-Rail connections linking families to downtown Miami and points north. Amelia Earhart Park, a large regional park with lakes and recreational facilities, is nearby. The city is in the middle of substantial transit-oriented development near its rail stations, with several large mixed-use residential projects publicly reported to be underway or planned through the late 2020s.

Housing near the school sits above both the Florida statewide median and the national median, with values that have edged slightly downward over the past year while rents have ticked up. Rent-to-income ratios run high enough that affordability is a genuine constraint for many families in the area.

At the district level, Miami-Dade voters approved a property tax increase in 2022 to fund teacher pay and school safety, which expires in 2027 unless renewed. That levy is currently baked into homeowner costs. More immediately, the district is navigating meaningful enrollment decline, and as of spring 2026, publicly reported plans called for closing or consolidating up to nine schools, with boundary changes and grade restructuring possible across all three regions of the county. Families moving into the area should ask the district directly whether Miami Lakes K-8 Center's current configuration and boundaries are stable for their planning horizon. A state cell phone policy requiring restrictions throughout the school day is also publicly reported to be moving forward, which will affect daily routines once implemented.

No information on specific programs, staffing, or extracurricular offerings was available in the data for this school.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 377%

School 77% · District 69% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 478%

School 78% · District 68% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 62% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 679%

School 79% · District 64% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 769%

School 69% · District 54% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 60% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 60% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 468%

School 68% · District 59% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 60% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 670%

School 70% · District 63% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 775%

School 75% · District 62% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 60% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 56% · ▼ 3 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 46% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 2 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-income61%Higher-income75%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income56%Higher-income78%22 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income59%Higher-income63%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income67%Higher-income73%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income73%Higher-income78%5 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income64%Higher-income81%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income69%Higher-income85%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income71%Higher-income84%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income48%Higher-income39%9 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income77%Higher-income81%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income61%Higher-income78%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income41%Higher-income21%20 pp gap