The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in Math. The lowest is 26% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Pierce Middle School
Pierce Middle School sits on North Hesperides Street in Tampa's northwest residential fabric, a few miles from the downtown core that defines so much of the city's civic identity. Tampa itself is a layered city — dense commercial corridors, historic preservation neighborhoods like Hyde Park and Seminole Heights, revitalizing districts like Tampa Heights, and suburban-scale streets that stretch well beyond the Riverwalk and Ybor City. The school's immediate surroundings are residential rather than walkable in the downtown sense, though the city's HART bus network and the broader urban infrastructure are accessible to families across the area.
The student body at Pierce is large for a middle school, spanning grades six through eight. Hispanic students make up the clear majority of enrollment, with Black and white students each representing smaller shares, and a very small portion of students identifying as Asian or multiracial. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing Pierce among schools serving a high-need economic population. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs was not available in the records reviewed, so families seeking detail on those support structures may want to ask the school directly.
On Florida's state assessments, the picture is difficult to frame generously. In math, sixth graders scored in the mid-range relative to what you might hope to see statewide, and eighth graders were somewhat lower; seventh-grade math proficiency was quite low. ELA results were consistent across all three grade levels and consistently low, with roughly one in four students reaching proficiency. The eighth-grade science assessment told a similar story. These are reported figures from the most recent FAST and Florida Statewide Science Assessment results, and no multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether the school is improving, flat, or declining from prior years. A parent looking to understand what is happening behind these numbers — what interventions are in place, how instruction is structured, where the district's support priorities lie — would be well-served to have that conversation directly with the school.
Because Hillsborough County has only one district for comparison purposes, a formal peer ranking among county districts is not meaningful here. Program offerings beyond the core curriculum were not included in the data available, so specific electives, extracurriculars, or specialized pathways cannot be described.
On housing, the zip code around the school reflects home values that sit modestly below the Florida statewide benchmark and close to the national median. Values have been nearly flat or slightly down year over year, and rents in the area have also softened slightly. Carrying costs relative to income are a real consideration — estimated monthly mortgage payments on a typical home in this zip code would consume a meaningful share of a median household's budget. For renters, the rent-to-income ratio is at the edge of what financial planners typically consider manageable. That context matters for families weighing whether to buy or rent in this part of Tampa.
Two district-level developments are worth knowing. Hillsborough County voters approved a property tax levy in late 2024, running from mid-2025 through mid-2029, designed to fund salary supplements for teachers and support staff. This is a direct, recurring cost increase for homeowners in the district, and its stated purpose is addressing teacher shortages — a structural problem the district publicly acknowledged. Separately, the district implemented a major boundary rezoning for the 2024-2025 school year that reshuffled attendance zones across many schools and moved a large number of students to different placements. Families new to the area should confirm current zoning rather than assuming historical boundaries still apply.
Pierce Middle School serves a predominantly Hispanic, economically mixed-toward-lower-income community in a city that is growing quickly downtown but more slowly in its established residential neighborhoods. The academic results as measured by state assessments are low across subjects and grades, and families who rely heavily on those benchmarks when choosing a school will find that a genuine concern worth exploring further with the school's staff.
See more original research from School Decision →