The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Math. The lowest is 27% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Theodore R. and Thelma A. Gibson Charter School
Gibson Charter School sits on NW 14th Street in Miami's urban core, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as a small elementary charter within Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The enrollment is small even by elementary charter standards, and the student body reflects the immediate neighborhood in telling ways: nearly the entire enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, the school is predominantly Black with a substantial Hispanic population, and the demographic picture is one of concentrated economic need. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs was not available in what we reviewed.
The academic results from Florida's FAST assessments tell a story that deserves a parent's full attention. In ELA, proficiency rates across third, fourth, and fifth grades are all in roughly the lower third of the possible range, with little variation between grades. Math shows more internal spread: third grade reaches a notably higher rate than the other two grades, but fourth grade drops considerably and fifth grade is the weakest result in any tested subject at this school. Fifth-grade science proficiency, measured on the Florida Statewide Science Assessment, is similarly low. There is no multi-year trend data available to show whether these numbers are improving, holding steady, or declining, so a parent cannot yet see a direction of travel. The comparison framework for Miami-Dade County had too few schools in the comparison set to produce a meaningful position, so we cannot place Gibson against local peers in that way. What the raw proficiency figures show, plainly, is that a majority of students across most tested grades and subjects are not reaching the state's proficiency threshold. Parents considering this school would be well served by asking the school directly about its instructional approach, how it tracks individual student progress, and what supports are in place for students who are below grade level.
No program-specific information was available for this school, so enrichment offerings, any dual-language track, arts programming, or extended learning options could not be confirmed. That is a meaningful gap for a family choosing among elementary options.
The school sits in one of the most walkable parts of Miami. Downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods are served by the free Metromover and the Metrorail, and the Government Center area, just minutes from this address, holds libraries, museums, civic offices, and Miami Dade College's Wolfson Campus. The neighborhood context is genuinely urban and resource-rich at the city scale, even as the immediate block environment reflects a lower-income residential district.
Housing near the school sits in a zip code where values have declined meaningfully over the past year, running somewhat below the Florida statewide median and roughly in line with national medians. Rents have also softened year over year but remain a substantial share of a typical household's income, consistent with Miami's well-documented affordability pressure. The tax referendum approved by Miami-Dade voters in 2022 adds a one-mill property tax that runs through 2027, a real cost for homeowners and a source of funding for teacher pay and school safety across the district.
At the district level, publicly reported enrollment declines are driving a wave of proposed school closures and consolidations, with up to nine schools potentially closing or merging before the next school year. Families new to the area should confirm this school's own status and boundary stability before making decisions, since reconfigured grade structures and reassignments are actively under discussion across the district.
Gibson is a small, community-rooted charter in a dense urban setting, serving a student population that is almost entirely economically disadvantaged. The academic outcomes as currently reported are a real concern and warrant a direct conversation with school leadership about what the school is doing to move those numbers and what a family can expect in terms of academic growth for their child.
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