Coconut Palm K-8 Academy, Homestead FL

Original Research by School Decision on Coconut Palm K-8 Academy

Coconut Palm K-8 Academy is a regular public school in Homestead, at the southern edge of Miami-Dade County, serving students from pre-kindergarten 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. English learner rates and special education enrollment data were not available in the data provided, which may be worth asking the school about directly.

On Florida's state assessments, proficiency rates across math, reading, and science are notably low across most grade levels. In both math and ELA, fewer than half of students at each tested grade scored proficient, with math rates in the middle grades running lower than in the elementary grades and eighth-grade science showing the lowest figures of any tested group. Fifth-grade science results are similarly modest. Trend data was not available, so it is not possible from this data to say whether scores are improving, holding, or declining. A parent who wants to understand trajectory should ask the school directly about recent grade-level growth data, which Florida's system does capture even when year-over-year comparisons are complicated by assessment changes. The neighbor comparison data for this school, placed relative to districts in Miami-Dade County, could not be computed for proficiency because of the small number of districts in the county comparison set, so there is no peer positioning available here.

The school is large for a K-8 setting, with the heaviest enrollment concentrated in the middle grades. Program information was not included in the data, so details about electives, interventions, enrichment tracks, or extracurricular offerings are a gap; asking the school about those directly would give a more complete picture. Chronic absenteeism and discipline data were also not available.

Coconut Palm sits in a part of Homestead that reads as car-oriented suburban development rather than walkable neighborhood, which is typical of the spread-out residential communities that have grown steadily across the southern edge of Miami-Dade. Master-planned communities like Waterstone, Mandarin Lakes, and Silver Palms are among the publicly reported residential areas feeding growth in this zip code. Home values in the area sit above the Florida statewide median and well above the national median, having dipped modestly in the past year, while rents have edged slightly upward. A buyer should weigh that the estimated mortgage cost for a typical home here consumes a substantial share of the national median household income, making affordability a real consideration.

The Miami-Dade district as a whole is navigating significant enrollment decline, and publicly reported coverage indicates that up to nine schools across the district could be closed or consolidated, with boundary changes actively proposed for the coming school year. Families considering a home purchase in this attendance zone should verify current and projected boundaries before committing, since grade structures and school assignments are in active flux. A voter-approved property tax supplement, currently in effect through 2027 and directed at teacher pay and school safety staffing, adds a measurable annual cost for homeowners.

Homestead itself is growing, with active new-construction markets in single-family homes and townhomes and a downtown that has been meaningfully reinvested with a new library, transit hub, and civic improvements. Major employers anchoring the local economy include Homestead Hospital, the Air Reserve Base, Turkey Point, and a range of retail and logistics employers. The South Dade TransitWay connects the area to Dadeland South Metrorail, providing regional access for families without cars or with long commutes northward.

For a family whose child is in a grade where the academic performance data is weakest, particularly the middle grades, the results here warrant further conversation with the school about instructional supports, intervention programs, and how student growth is tracked over time.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 69% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 444%

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

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 62% · ▼ 27 pts below district

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

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 64% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 727%

School 27% · District 54% · ▼ 27 pts below district

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

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 60% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 60% · ▼ 28 pts below district

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

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 59% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 533%

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

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 634%

School 34% · District 63% · ▼ 28 pts below district

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

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 62% · ▼ 27 pts below district

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

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 60% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 56% · ▼ 27 pts below district

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

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 46% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 20 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-income30%Higher-income37%7 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income31%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income28%7 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income36%Higher-income29%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income42%Higher-income17%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income38%Higher-income43%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income37%Higher-income31%7 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income48%5 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income34%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income29%1 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income28%Higher-income24%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income49%Higher-income45%5 pp gap