Brownsville Middle School, Miami FL

Original Research by School Decision on Brownsville Middle School

Brownsville Middle School is a public school serving sixth through eighth graders in the Brownsville neighborhood of Miami, operating within Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The school draws a student body that is roughly evenly split between Black and Hispanic students, with a small number of White students and no reported enrollment from other groups. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this squarely in the high-economic-need tier. Data on English learner classification and special education rates were not available in what we reviewed.

Academic performance on Florida's state assessments is a clear area of concern. Across all three grades tested in both English language arts and math, proficiency rates are low relative to what most parents would hope for, with the seventh-grade math result standing out as the weakest and the eighth-grade math result the strongest among the tested cohorts. Science proficiency at the eighth-grade level, measured by Florida's Statewide Science Assessment, came in lower still. To be direct: across every tested subject and grade, fewer than half of students are reaching the state's proficiency threshold, and in most cases the share is well below that midpoint. Parents who want to understand what that means in practice for their child's preparation should ask the school directly about its academic support programs, intervention tiers, and what pathways exist for students who arrive below grade level. Trend data across years was not available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether performance has been improving, holding steady, or declining.

No program-level information was provided in the data reviewed, such as advanced coursework, extracurriculars, or enrichment tracks. That gap is worth filling directly with the school.

The surrounding district is experiencing enrollment decline that is producing real structural changes. Miami-Dade is actively reviewing closures and consolidations across multiple schools, with the possibility of reconfigured grade spans and reassigned attendance zones. Families considering a move to this part of Miami should confirm current attendance boundaries before settling on a home, since the situation was still in flux as of the time this was compiled. Separately, Miami-Dade voters approved a property tax increase for teacher compensation and campus safety, set to expire in 2027 unless renewed, which is a line item homeowners in the district carry.

On the housing side, the ZIP code around Brownsville sits in a market where home values are meaningfully above both the Florida statewide median and the national median, though both local values and the state figure have dipped slightly year over year. Rents are up modestly. The estimated monthly mortgage cost for a typical home in this ZIP code is substantial, and the share of income that rent represents locally is well above what financial planners typically recommend as a comfortable threshold. Miami as a whole is a dense, urban, highly walkable city. Brownsville itself is a residential neighborhood on Miami's northwest side. Downtown, with its civic institutions, transit connections, and cultural anchors, is accessible by Metrorail, which runs through this part of the city.

The district context reflects a larger Miami picture: the county as a whole has seen population decline recently, in part driven by changes in immigration patterns, and public school enrollment has followed. For a family weighing this school, the academic performance data is the most concrete factor to examine carefully, and a conversation with school leadership about what support structures are in place would be a reasonable next step.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 64% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 718%

School 18% · District 54% · ▼ 36 pts below district

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

Grade 842%

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

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

English language arts

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 63% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 62% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 60% · ▼ 30 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 46% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 29 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 6Lower-income40%Higher-income18%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income41%Higher-income15%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income38%Higher-income20%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income32%Higher-income33%2 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income23%Higher-income13%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income53%Higher-income30%23 pp gap