The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in Math. The lowest is 29% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Jackson Elementary School
Jackson Elementary sits on East Gilchrist Street in Plant City, a working agricultural town about twenty-five miles east of Tampa along the I-4 corridor. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public elementary within Hillsborough County Schools. Its enrollment puts it in a modest size range for its grade band.
The student body reflects the surrounding neighborhood closely. A large majority of students come from households qualifying for free or reduced-price meals, which signals meaningful economic need in the community the school serves. Hispanic students make up the largest share of enrollment, followed by Black students and a smaller share of white students, with a modest multiracial group as well. English learner and special education counts were not available in the data provided.
Florida's FAST assessments, reported here for the most recent school year, tell a candid story. In third grade, roughly half of students reached math proficiency and just under half reached reading proficiency, which represents the stronger end of the school's academic picture. By fourth and fifth grade, those numbers fall considerably, and fifth-grade science results track similarly to fifth-grade ELA. Proficiency in the upper elementary grades sits well below the midpoint by any reasonable reading of the data. Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from these figures whether the school is moving in a particular direction. Parents who want to understand what's being done to address these gaps would be well served by a direct conversation with the school.
Comparison data against other districts in Hillsborough County could not be generated because the county effectively has a single district for comparison purposes, so no peer positioning is available.
The housing market around Jackson Elementary is worth noting for families considering a move. Home values in the school's zip code sit meaningfully below the Florida statewide median and also below the national median, with values having edged slightly downward over the past year. Rents have dipped modestly as well. By affordability measures, the rent-to-income ratio hovers right around the common threshold that housing economists use to flag cost stress, and mortgage carrying costs relative to income suggest buying is not cheap even at these lower price points. Plant City more broadly is on a visible growth path, with new single-family subdivisions from multiple builders coming to market and a comprehensive plan being updated to manage the expansion. Families buying into the area now are entering a community that is actively reshaping its residential footprint.
Two district-level changes are relevant. Hillsborough County voters approved a property tax referendum in late 2024 that runs through mid-2029, adding a per-dollar-of-assessed-value levy to homeowner bills each year. Publicly reported accounts describe the revenue as directed toward teacher and support staff salary supplements to address staffing shortages. For homeowners, this is a real ongoing cost increase. Separately, the district enacted a significant boundary rezoning for the current school year, shifting large numbers of students to different assigned schools across the county. Families should verify their current attendance zone assignment directly with the district, since the data predating that rezoning may not reflect current boundaries.
Plant City itself has a genuine civic fabric. The downtown core is walkable, with a historic residential district of early-twentieth-century homes, a linear park that anchors community events including monthly food truck gatherings, and a municipal library. The regional economy mixes agriculture, logistics, and distribution, with South Florida Baptist Hospital, major produce shippers, and logistics operators all employing locally. The town's identity as a strawberry farming center is real, not merely promotional, with a substantial portion of the country's midwinter strawberry supply grown on local acreage.
Program offerings for Jackson Elementary were not available in the data provided, so it is not possible to characterize enrichment, intervention, or extracurricular offerings beyond what the state testing results suggest about the academic environment.
See more original research from School Decision →