Ensley Elementary School, Pensacola FL

Original Research by School Decision on Ensley Elementary School

Ensley Elementary School is a public prekindergarten-through-fifth-grade school in Pensacola, part of the Escambia County School District. The school serves a moderately sized elementary enrollment, with students spread across all grade levels from pre-K through fifth grade. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with Black and Hispanic students each making up roughly a third of enrollment, white students a smaller share, and the remainder identifying as Asian, multiracial, or other backgrounds. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a community facing significant economic pressure. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in what we reviewed.

State assessment results from Florida's FAST exams give the clearest academic picture available. In reading and math, proficiency rates across the tested grades tell a story of real challenge. Fourth grade math proficiency is notably low, well below what families would hope to see, and fourth grade ELA follows a similar pattern. Third and fifth grade results are somewhat higher but still sit below the midpoint for most measures. Fifth grade math is the relative bright spot, reaching around half of students, while fifth grade science proficiency lands in roughly the same range as third grade reading. Across all tested subjects and grades, Ensley's results are below typical state averages for Florida elementary schools. Parents who want to understand these results in depth, including what supports the school is providing and what growth trajectories look like for individual students, would benefit from a direct conversation with school staff. Multi-year trend data was not available in the records we reviewed, so it is not possible from this data to say whether performance is improving, holding steady, or declining.

No information on specific programs, enrichment offerings, course access, staffing levels, or chronic absenteeism was available. Those gaps are worth asking the school about directly.

The neighborhood sits within a Pensacola housing market that is considerably more affordable than the Florida statewide average. Home values in the zip code are well below the state median, and rents are similarly modest, with the price-to-income ratio at a level that tends to make buying more accessible than in many Florida markets. Year-over-year appreciation has been modest, and the rental market has grown with a wave of apartment construction across the city. For families drawn to Pensacola by employment at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Navy Federal Credit Union, Baptist Health Care, or the University of West Florida, the area around Ensley offers relatively attainable housing.

Pensacola itself is a city in active transition. Downtown has seen substantial growth in housing and commercial activity over the past decade, with continued investment underway including a major reconstruction of the Palafox Street corridor. The city maintains parks, a public library system with multiple branches, and bus transit through ECAT. The military and healthcare sectors dominate employment, giving the broader economy a degree of stability.

At the district level, Escambia County voters renewed a dedicated half-cent school sales tax in late 2024, publicly reported as a multi-year funding stream directed at construction, renovations, land, and technology. The district has also adopted more restrictive policies around library materials, removing a large number of books from school shelves under state law and updated board policy; families who care about library access and classroom reading choices will want to look into how these policies apply at the elementary level specifically. District governance is also unsettled, with a vote on whether to return to an elected superintendent potentially reshaping district accountability in the coming years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 58% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 60% · ▼ 46 pts below district

▼ 47 pts below state median · ▼ 46 pts below county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 52%

▼ 3 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 53% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Grade 423%

School 23% · District 55% · ▼ 32 pts below district

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

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 53% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 56% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

This schoolESCAMBIA, 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-income42%Higher-income31%10 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income12%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income38%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income44%Higher-income31%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income8%Higher-income23%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income52%Higher-income52%0 pp gap