The top reported proficiency rate is 80% in Math. The lowest is 70% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Lithia Springs Elementary School
Lithia Springs Elementary sits on Lynx Paw Trail in Valrico, an unincorporated residential community in eastern Hillsborough County, southeast of Tampa. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within Hillsborough County Public Schools. Grades six through twelve are not served here, so there is no graduation rate, and that absence is simply a function of the grade band rather than anything to read into.
The academic picture is genuinely strong. On Florida's FAST assessments, math proficiency across the tested grades runs solidly in the upper-seventies to low-eighties, with third graders performing the best and the results holding up well through fifth grade. Reading proficiency is somewhat lower across the board, with fourth grade showing the widest gap below math performance and third and fifth grades closer behind. Fifth-grade science results are in the same range as fifth-grade math. Taken together, this is a school where the majority of students across all tested grades are meeting or exceeding Florida's proficiency standards, which is a meaningful strength at the elementary level. The comparison data for this school cannot be positioned against neighboring Hillsborough County districts because only one district covers the county, making a county peer comparison inapplicable. Trend data across prior years was not available in what was provided, so a parent wanting to understand whether results have been rising or holding steady would want to ask the school directly.
The student population is a mid-sized elementary school for its grade band. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, well below what one typically sees in higher-poverty settings. The school is predominantly white, with a meaningful Hispanic enrollment and smaller shares of Asian, multiracial, Black, and other students. Data on English learner students and students with IEPs was not reported in what was available, so those families may want to inquire with the school about support services.
Valrico itself is a fully auto-dependent suburb. Publicly reported information describes it as organized around master-planned subdivisions and deed-restricted family neighborhoods, with daily commercial life running along State Road 60 through strip plazas rather than any walkable center. Most families will drive everywhere. The civic anchor for the area is the Bloomingdale Regional Public Library, which serves Valrico, Lithia, and surrounding communities. Parks and conservation lands, including Lithia Springs Park to the south, are nearby. It is a community built around family life, school schedules, and weekend recreation, not around urban density or walkable neighborhood culture.
On housing, the area around the school carries home values that sit noticeably above both Florida's statewide benchmark and the national benchmark, though values have dipped modestly year over year as of mid-2026. Rents have edged up slightly in that same period. Monthly mortgage costs on a typical home in this zip code run meaningfully above what most households would consider easily affordable relative to national median income, which is worth factoring in for families considering a move here.
Two district-level changes are worth knowing. Hillsborough voters passed a property tax referendum in late 2024 that adds a meaningful annual cost to homeowners' tax bills starting in July 2025 and running through mid-2029, with the revenue going to teacher and staff pay. That is a direct cost for families who own. The district also carried out a major boundary rezoning for the 2024-2025 school year affecting a large number of schools and students countywide. If a family is looking at this school while considering a home purchase in the area, verifying the current attendance boundaries for their specific address before committing is prudent, as those boundaries were actively redrawn not long ago.
Program offerings were not included in the data provided, so that picture is not available here. A parent wanting to know about enrichment, gifted services, arts, or after-school programs would need to contact the school.
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