The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in English language arts. The lowest is 40% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Sherwood Elementary School
Sherwood Elementary sits on Cherokee Trail in the southwestern part of Pensacola, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a regular public school within the Escambia County School District, and there is no charter or magnet designation attached to it.
The school's enrollment is modest for its grade band, and the student population reflects the neighborhood around it. The majority of students are Black, with a substantial share identifying as white, Hispanic, or two or more races. A large portion of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Sherwood among schools serving a community with significant economic need. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in the provided records.
On Florida's FAST assessments, which are the state's primary academic measure, proficiency rates across grades three through five run below what most parents would hope for. In math, third and fourth graders approach but do not reach the halfway mark statewide, and fifth graders fall noticeably short of it. Reading results tell a similar story: third and fifth grade ELA proficiency sits in the upper thirties, while fourth grade is somewhat higher. Fifth grade science results land in a comparable range. Trend data across multiple years was not available, so it is not possible to say whether scores have been improving, holding, or slipping. A parent wanting a fuller picture of what the school is doing to address these numbers would do well to ask directly.
The school has no graduation rate, as it serves only elementary grades. AP coursework, dual enrollment, and career pathways are measures that apply at the secondary level and are simply not relevant here.
The surrounding Pensacola community is a mid-sized Gulf Coast city anchored by the military presence of Naval Air Station Pensacola, alongside major civilian employers in healthcare and financial services. The western part of the city where Sherwood is located sits apart from the walkable downtown core around Palafox Street, which has seen active redevelopment and new housing over the past decade. Home values in the zip code are well below the Florida statewide median and below the national median, making this part of Pensacola one of the more accessible housing markets in the state. Rents have been climbing modestly in recent months. That gap between local home prices and state or national benchmarks reflects both the economic character of this neighborhood and the broader affordability of inland and southwestern Pensacola compared to the beachside and suburban corridors to the north and east.
At the district level, Escambia County voters recently renewed a half-cent sales tax dedicated to school construction, renovations, and technology, which publicly reported sources indicate will fund facility improvements through the end of the decade. The district has also removed a substantial number of books from school libraries under state and local policy, including several widely recognized titles, without individual title review; families who care about the range of reading material available to their children will want to understand those policies in detail. Separately, a question on whether the district should return to an elected rather than appointed superintendent was placed on the August 2025 ballot, meaning governance structure may shift in ways that affect district accountability going forward.
Sherwood is a neighborhood elementary school in a community with real economic challenges, and its academic results reflect that context. Families enrolling here are choosing a school that serves children who need strong foundational support, and the evidence available does not yet show that the majority of students are reaching grade-level proficiency in core subjects. That is worth understanding clearly before making a decision, and asking the school about specific support structures, intervention programs, and how teachers are tracking individual student progress would give a more complete picture than the aggregate test results alone can provide.
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