The top reported proficiency rate is 75% in Math. The lowest is 46% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Desoto Elementary School
DeSoto Elementary School sits on Corrine Street in Tampa's 33605 zip code, a neighborhood just east of downtown that falls within the broader Ybor City and Tampa Heights corridor — an area that has historically housed working-class Latino families and is now on the edges of the city's development activity. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade under Hillsborough County Public Schools.
Enrollment is small. The school draws a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with Black students making up a meaningful secondary share and a smaller white population. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this school clearly in the higher-economic-need tier. Data on English learner and IEP populations were not reported in what we reviewed, so parents who want specifics on language support or special education services should ask the school directly.
The academic picture is mixed and worth examining carefully. On Florida's FAST assessments, math results in the younger tested grades are genuinely strong — third and fourth graders are performing well above what many schools in comparable settings show. That is a real strength and suggests the school's approach to early numeracy is working. Fifth-grade math proficiency drops noticeably, a gap a parent might want to ask the school to explain. Reading and ELA tell a more modest story across all three tested grades, with roughly half of third and fourth graders reaching proficiency and fifth grade falling below that. The state science assessment at fifth grade sits at a similar level. The comparison set for this school within Hillsborough County includes only one district in the county, so no meaningful peer comparison is possible from the available data.
Trend data was not available, meaning it is not possible to say from the data alone whether these results are improving, flat, or declining. A parent would be well served by asking the school about its trajectory, particularly for ELA.
DeSoto is a regular public school, not a charter, and carries no magnet designation. No program offerings were reported in the data, so breadth of enrichment, arts, or dual-language programming cannot be assessed here.
On housing, the zip code around the school has seen home values fall modestly year over year, sitting below both the Florida state average and the national average. Rents are slightly higher than the prior year. The rent-to-income ratio suggests that for renters earning a median wage, housing costs represent a meaningful budget share. This is not an affluent area, and families considering the neighborhood should weigh that context. The broader Tampa market is in an active growth phase, with large mixed-use development — Water Street Tampa, the Gasworx district near Ybor City — reshaping adjacent neighborhoods and potentially affecting housing costs and neighborhood character in the coming years.
Two district-level changes are worth noting for any Hillsborough County family. Voters approved a property tax increase in late 2024 that runs through mid-2029, intended to raise teacher and support staff pay. Homeowners in the district will see this reflected in their tax bills starting in 2025. Separately, the district carried out a significant boundary rezoning for the 2024-2025 school year affecting a large number of schools and students across the county, so families new to the area should verify current attendance zone assignments rather than assuming historical boundaries still apply.
DeSoto's early math results are a genuine point in its favor, and the school's small size means students are unlikely to get lost. The ELA and upper-grade results, along with the absence of detail on program offerings and support services, are areas where prospective families will want direct answers from the school before drawing conclusions.
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