The top reported proficiency rate is 70% in Math. The lowest is 54% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Central Elementary School
Central Elementary School sits at the center of Clewiston, a small agricultural city on the southwestern edge of Lake Okeechobee in Hendry County. The city's identity is built around sugarcane, with U.S. Sugar Corporation serving as the dominant regional employer. The pace here is deliberate and rural in character, even if technically city-classified: downtown is compact and practical, the lake and its scenic trail define outdoor life, and the housing market, while still well below both state and national medians, has been climbing. Publicly reported data notes home values have risen sharply in a recent year, and two large developments planned on U.S. Sugar-rezoned land east of town are expected to add substantially to the housing stock, which local officials have framed partly as a way to help recruit teachers who have struggled with housing access.
Central Elementary serves prekindergarten through fifth grade, which means the school's profile is entirely about early academic foundations. A graduation rate does not apply here, and that absence is simply a function of the grades served. The school draws a student body that is majority Hispanic, with Black and white students each comprising meaningful shares. A large majority of enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, pointing to a community with real economic pressure. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided.
On Florida's statewide assessments, the picture is mixed and worth examining carefully. In math, third and fourth graders are performing at or above majority-proficiency, which is a genuine strength at those grade levels. Fifth grade math drops noticeably below that mark. In ELA, the results are softer across all tested grades, with third grade sitting near majority-proficiency and both fourth and fifth grade falling below it, with fifth grade ELA the lowest reported figure in the school's results. Fifth grade science comes in just above two-thirds proficiency, which is the stronger of the fifth-grade results. Parents whose children are in the upper elementary grades, particularly fifth grade, may want to ask the school directly about how it is addressing the ELA gap and what supports are in place. Trend data across years was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these figures represent improvement, stability, or decline.
The comparison data for Hendry County reflects a county with only one school district, meaning a direct peer comparison across districts in the county is not meaningful. No chronic absenteeism or attendance data was provided.
On programs, no additional enrichment, dual-language, or specialty program information was available in what was provided.
The broader district context is worth noting for families thinking about the long arc of their child's schooling in Hendry County. A new LaBelle High School broke ground in 2026, the first new school built in the county in roughly three decades, targeting an opening for students entering its class in 2027. That is a material facilities change for families with children who will eventually feed into the high school years. The county also adopted school impact fees in early 2024 on new residential construction, meaning families who move to the county and build a new home will face that added cost, with revenue earmarked for growth-driven school infrastructure.
Clewiston itself offers a quiet, community-scaled life that is deeply tied to the land and the lake. There is no fixed-route public transit publicly identified. The nearest major airport requires a meaningful drive. Civic anchors include the public library, city parks, a golf course, and the recreational draw of Lake Okeechobee fishing and the scenic dike trail. What the city does not offer is a dense range of restaurants, entertainment venues, or urban amenities, and publicly reported community reviews reflect that plainly.
Central Elementary is the neighborhood school for young children in this community. Its math results in the early grades are a relative strength. The reading results, particularly heading into the upper grades, are softer, and that is the area a parent of an older elementary student would most want to probe when speaking with the school directly.
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