The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Math. The lowest is 32% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Dover Elementary
Dover Elementary sits on Nelson Avenue in Dover, a rural, unincorporated community in eastern Hillsborough County. Dover is not a town with a downtown or city hall; it is a corridor community organized around State Road 60, where strawberry farms and large residential lots define the landscape more than commercial strips or civic squares. The Florida Strawberry Growers Association is headquartered here, and agriculture shapes both the economy and the population's character. The area is expanding as Tampa's suburban reach extends eastward, and a publicly reported proposal to convert a former phosphate mine and county landfill nearby into a large residential development has drawn neighbor concern about whether roads and schools can absorb the growth.
Dover Elementary serves prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the Hillsborough County district. It draws an enrollment that is heavily Hispanic, with the student body reflecting the community's deep ties to agricultural labor. A very substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school firmly in a high-need economic context. Data on English learner enrollment and students served by IEPs was not available in what we reviewed.
State assessment results from Florida's FAST assessments and the Statewide Science Assessment, reported for the most recent school year available, show proficiency rates that fall below what most parents would consider a strong outcome. Across third through fifth grade in math, roughly a third to just under half of students scored at proficiency. ELA results are lower still, with fourth grade showing the softest reading proficiency of any tested group. Fifth-grade science results are similarly modest. There are no prior-year results available in the data to establish whether scores are moving up or down, so trend direction cannot be characterized. A parent who wants to understand whether the school is closing gaps or holding steady will want to ask the school directly. It is worth noting that comparison against other districts in Hillsborough County was not possible with the data available, as there is only one district in the county comparison set, so a broader regional benchmark is not offered here.
No information on program offerings, course access, attendance, or disciplinary data was available for this school. Staffing data was also absent. These are meaningful gaps for a parent trying to understand what support structures exist for a child who may need reading intervention or additional math scaffolding, and the school itself would be the right place to get those answers.
Housing in the Dover zip code sits above both the Florida statewide median and the national median in home values, with prices that have pulled back slightly year over year. The area offers larger lots and acreage that are relatively uncommon this close to Tampa, which partly explains the appeal for families who want space. Renting data for this zip code was not available. Homeowners in Hillsborough County will see a property tax increase beginning in July 2025 following a voter-approved millage referendum in late 2024; publicly reported accounts describe the levy running through mid-2029 and directing funds toward teacher and support staff pay raises, addressing what the district has described as a persistent staffing shortage.
Families should also be aware that the district carried out a significant boundary rezoning for the 2024-2025 school year, affecting a large number of schools and students across Hillsborough County. Whether Dover Elementary's attendance zone was affected is not specified in the available data, but any family new to the area would do well to confirm their current assignment directly with the district before assuming proximity determines placement.
Dover Elementary is a neighborhood elementary school in a growing but still rural, predominantly Hispanic agricultural community. The academic results reported indicate that a majority of students in tested grades are not yet meeting proficiency standards in reading or math, which is a real consideration for families weighing their options. Parents who want to know what the school is doing to address that, what intervention programs are in place, and how the school is preparing for the growth coming to the corridor are the right questions to bring to the front office.
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