The top reported proficiency rate is 82% in Math. The lowest is 66% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Dr. Manuel C. Barreiro Elementary School
Dr. Manuel C. Barreiro Elementary School sits in the southwestern corner of Miami, a regular public school within Miami-Dade County Public Schools serving prekindergarten through fifth grade. The school is mid-sized for its grade band and draws from a neighborhood well removed from the urban density of downtown Miami, closer to the suburban edge of the county where residential streets give way to newer subdivisions.
The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, reflecting the demographic character of the surrounding community. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, though the school is not a Title I designee based on available data. Data on English learner enrollment and students served by individualized education programs was not available in the records we reviewed, so families with children who may need those services would do well to ask the school directly about the depth and staffing of those supports.
Academic performance on the most recent Florida FAST assessments is a clear strength here, particularly in the earlier tested grades. Third-grade math results sit well above what most Florida elementary schools post, and third-grade reading is also quite strong. Performance stays solid in fourth grade across both subjects. By fifth grade the numbers soften somewhat, especially in reading and science, where roughly a third of students are not yet at the proficiency mark. That fifth-grade dip is worth tracking; a parent might ask the school how it supports students through the transition into more complex texts and scientific reasoning in those final elementary years. Trend data across prior years was not available, so it is not possible to say whether proficiency has been moving up or down over time.
The school operates as a standard public school with no magnet designation and no charter status. Program offerings were not reported in the data available, so specific enrichment tracks, arts programs, or dual-language options are not something this profile can confirm or rule out; the school or district enrollment office would be the right place to ask.
The neighborhood housing market is expensive relative to Florida as a whole and to national benchmarks. Home values in the zip code are well above the state median and considerably above the national median, and they are essentially flat or modestly down year over year. Rents are high, and the rent-to-income burden is notably heavy by national standards, putting the area in a category where housing costs alone require careful financial planning for incoming families.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the district, is navigating a period of real turbulence. Publicly reported enrollment has been declining, and the district proposed closing or consolidating up to nine schools across its regions as of spring 2026, with new grade configurations emerging including K-8 and K-12 conversions. Families considering this school should ask whether it or any nearby schools in the south region are among those under review, because boundary changes and reassignments are possible. The district also approved a voter-backed property tax levy several years ago to fund teacher pay and school safety, set to expire in 2027 unless renewed, which is a live budget consideration for homeowners in the area.
Miami itself provides an unusually rich urban backdrop, with a transit network that includes Metrorail and a free downtown people mover, a library system of more than fifty branches, major cultural institutions, and an economy anchored by government, health care, tourism, and a growing technology sector. The city has posted municipal population growth recently even as the broader county has seen a net decline tied in part to shifts in immigration, and school enrollment district-wide has dropped as a result. That context shapes the planning decisions the district is now making, and families new to the area should factor it into any decision about where to enroll and how stable their assigned school boundaries are likely to be.
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