The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in Math. The lowest is 21% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Hamilton County Elementary School
Hamilton County Elementary School sits on a consolidated campus south of Jasper along US Highway 129, sharing a site with the middle-high school and district offices. The location is deliberately separate from the small downtown, set amid the pine-shaded rural-residential surroundings that define this corner of North Florida. Jasper itself is a county seat with an agricultural character, a modest downtown anchored by the courthouse, and a local economy built around phosphate and potash mining, public corrections employment, and county government. Population has been roughly flat to slightly declining in recent years, and the development authority is actively working to revitalize the downtown and attract commercial investment. Housing here is substantially more affordable than the Florida statewide average, and the local market has edged down slightly in value over the past year.
The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, making it the only elementary option in the district. Enrollment is healthy for a rural county school. The student body is roughly split between Black and white students in nearly equal shares, with Hispanic students making up a substantial additional portion. The economic need is pronounced: the overwhelming majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in the data provided.
State testing results from Florida's FAST assessment and the statewide science exam tell a candid story. Third-grade results in both math and ELA come in above half of students reaching proficiency, which is the strongest showing across the tested grades here. By fourth grade, proficiency in both subjects drops to roughly one in three students, and fifth-grade results fall further, with math and ELA both in the low-to-mid thirties and science proficiency below one in four students. These figures are below Florida state norms for elementary schools of comparable grade bands. The pattern of declining rates across grades is worth asking the school about directly. Multi-year trend data was not available in a comparable form, so it is not possible to say from this data alone whether results are improving, flat, or declining over time.
The district context adds some nuance. Publicly reported information indicates the district has held a steady middling state letter grade for several consecutive years, with no meaningful movement up or down. That same reporting notes a jump in Algebra 1 proficiency on end-of-course assessments in the most recent year, though that applies to secondary students rather than this elementary school's population.
Because this is a pre-K through fifth-grade school, there are no graduation rates, AP programs, or career pathway metrics to consider. The comparison framework for county districts yields no usable proficiency comparison because Hamilton County has only a single district, so there is no peer group against which to position the school's results.
What a parent weighs here is a school that is the sole elementary option in a tight-knit, rural community with genuine economic hardship. The campus is consolidated, meaning children who go here are also likely to continue on the same campus for secondary school. The town is quiet and self-contained, organized around work, church, and family, with limited commercial amenities but meaningful civic anchors in the library, parks, and river access. The housing market is accessible by Florida standards. Families drawn by affordability, community rootedness, or family ties to this area will find a school that serves a diverse population in a genuinely modest economic environment. Parents who want to understand the trajectory of academic support, especially across the upper elementary grades where proficiency rates are lower, would do well to ask the school about its intervention programs and how it tracks student progress from year to year.
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