Grady Elementary School, Tampa FL

Original Research by School Decision on Grady Elementary School

Grady Elementary sits on West Morrison Avenue in the 33629 zip code, a South Tampa address that places it in one of the more affluent residential corridors of the city. The immediate neighborhood carries the character of Palma Ceia and surrounding areas: brick-paved or canopy-shaded streets, established homes, and proximity to Bayshore Boulevard. The Jan K. Platt Regional Library is a short distance away, and Hyde Park Village is a familiar anchor for the broader South Tampa community.

The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade, which means the graduation rate and high school pathway metrics that appear in district profiles simply do not apply here. Assessment results are available through Florida's FAST exams and the state's fifth-grade science test, and they tell a clear story. In math, proficiency rates across the tested grades are uniformly high, running from the upper eighties into the low nineties. ELA results are also strong, generally in the low-to-mid eighties across third, fourth, and fifth grade. Fifth-grade science proficiency comes in at a similar level. By any reasonable read, these are well above typical state performance, and parents looking for an elementary school where the majority of children are working at or above grade level will find that condition met here.

The student body is a mid-sized elementary population for its grade band, with a clear demographic profile. White students make up the majority, followed by Hispanic students as the next largest group, with smaller Asian and Black populations and a multiracial share. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is comparatively low, reflecting the economic character of South Tampa. Data on English learner enrollment and individualized education programs was not available in what we reviewed.

Housing in the school's zip code is among the most expensive in the Tampa area, running substantially above both Florida's statewide median home value and the national figure. Rents in the area have risen year over year. Families considering a move to be in this attendance zone should factor in what is publicly reported as one of Tampa's priciest residential markets, where the estimated monthly carrying cost of a typical home in the area requires a household income well above the national median to stay within conventional affordability thresholds.

On the district side, Hillsborough County voters approved a property tax millage in late 2024, publicly reported to take effect in July 2025 through mid-2029, designed to raise teacher and support staff pay. Homeowners in the district, including those in South Tampa, will see this reflected in their tax bills. The district also completed a significant boundary rezoning for the 2024-2025 school year that reshuffled assignments across a large number of schools; families new to the area should confirm their specific address falls within Grady's current attendance zone, since that map changed relatively recently.

Tampa itself is in a sustained growth phase. The Water Street and Gasworx developments are reshaping the downtown core and adjacent neighborhoods, and the broader metro has added population at pace for several years, though publicly reported data suggest some cooling in local employment and the apartment market is expected to tighten by 2028. Walkability in South Tampa is modest by national urban standards, though the Bayshore sidewalk and the Hyde Park neighborhood offer more pedestrian texture than many parts of the city.

No program-specific information was provided in what we reviewed, so we cannot speak to enrichment offerings, arts, or any specialized curriculum at Grady beyond what the test data implies about academic expectations. Parents with questions about specific instructional approaches, support services, or extracurricular programming would want to reach out directly to the school.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 392%

School 92% · District 58% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 489%

School 89% · District 59% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 592%

School 92% · District 54% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 380%

School 80% · District 53% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 484%

School 84% · District 53% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 581%

School 81% · District 53% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Science

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 50% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

This schoolHILLSBOROUGH, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income72%Higher-income83%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income63%Higher-income91%27 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income87%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income80%Higher-income96%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income74%Higher-income94%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income78%Higher-income98%21 pp gap