The top reported proficiency rate is 78% in Science. The lowest is 68% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Ruth N. Upson Elementary School
Ruth N. Upson Elementary sits in the 32205 zip code of Jacksonville's west side, in a part of the city that carries the historic texture of the Riverside and Avondale neighborhoods nearby. Those areas, publicly reported as some of Jacksonville's more walkable and architecturally preserved districts, are anchored by locally owned businesses along King Street and early-twentieth-century homes. The broader city is large and mostly car-dependent, though this corner of it is closer to the kind of street life and neighborhood identity that most of Jacksonville lacks. Jacksonville itself is one of the faster-growing metro areas in the country, with major development concentrated downtown along the St. Johns River and a housing market that the National Association of Realtors publicly named a hot spot heading into the current cycle.
The housing market around the school's zip code has seen home values soften modestly year over year while rents have ticked slightly upward, both moves mirroring a regional market that still comes in below the statewide median. The rent-to-income ratio sits in a range that remains broadly accessible compared to many Florida markets, and estimated monthly ownership costs run modestly below the typical Florida figure. For families weighing the neighborhood as a place to settle, the combination of a downward price trend and relative affordability relative to Florida norms is worth factoring in.
The school itself is a small, regular public elementary serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within Duval County Public Schools, one of the larger districts in the state. Enrollment is small enough that individual grade cohorts are modestly sized, which can shape everything from classroom feel to program breadth. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, just over half, which reflects a mixed-income catchment consistent with the west Jacksonville setting. The student body is racially mixed: white students make up the largest group, Black students the next largest, and the remainder includes students of two or more races, Hispanic students, and a small number of Asian students. Data on English learner and special education rates was not available in the provided information.
On Florida's FAST assessments, Upson's results are notably strong. Math proficiency across the tested grades runs in the upper-seventies, a solid position. ELA results are slightly more varied: third grade comes in at roughly the same level as math, fourth grade dips noticeably, and fifth grade recovers partially. The fifth-grade statewide science assessment result is strong, running in the same range as the school's best math results. Trend data across prior years was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these numbers represent improvement, stability, or a recent shift. A parent may want to ask the school directly about fourth-grade ELA performance and what supports are in place for reading at that level.
The comparison set for Duval County contained too few districts to produce a reliable relative ranking on proficiency or other metrics, so no placement among county peers is available from the data.
The only program offering documented here is music. Whether additional arts programming, enrichment, intervention supports, or extracurricular activities exist beyond that is not captured in the available data, and the school's own website would be the right place to check. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and staffing ratios was also not available.
The school is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation, and no Title I status was reported in the data provided. District-level changes from Duval were not findable through research before the search concluded, so district priorities and any planned school-level changes were left out rather than guessed at.
For a family living or considering a home in west Jacksonville, Upson offers math and science results that hold up well on a statewide basis, a diverse and mid-sized peer environment, and a neighborhood setting with more urban character than most of the city. The ELA gap in the middle elementary grades is a real feature of the picture and worth a direct conversation with the school.
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