The top reported proficiency rate is 23% in Math. The lowest is 15% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Potter Elementary School
Potter Elementary sits on East Cayuga Street in Tampa's 33610 zip code, a neighborhood east of downtown that sits outside the city's more affluent enclaves. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in Hillsborough County's public system and draws a student body that is predominantly Black, with a substantial Hispanic share and a small white enrollment. The overwhelming majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this one of the higher-poverty elementary schools by that measure. Data on English learner and special education populations were not available in what was provided.
The academic picture, drawn from Florida's FAST assessments and the statewide science test, is one that parents should weigh carefully. Across all three tested grades in both reading and math, and in fifth-grade science, the share of students reaching proficiency sits in a low range well below what most families would hope to see at a Florida elementary school. Third-grade reading and math proficiency are especially low, fourth-grade ELA and math show modest improvement over third grade, and fifth-grade results remain similarly constrained. The fifth-grade science assessment mirrors the pattern. These are reported state figures, not projections, and they describe the current student population's performance against Florida's standards. A parent would be right to ask the school directly what instructional supports, intervention programs, or literacy initiatives are in place, since this data alone does not tell the full story of what staff are working toward.
Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether results are improving, holding steady, or declining. The comparison framework for placing Potter against other schools in Hillsborough County produced only a single district in the comparison pool, which means no meaningful peer ranking can be drawn.
On the district level, families should know that Hillsborough County voters approved a property tax referendum in November 2024, publicly reported as adding a millage levied from mid-2025 through mid-2029. The revenue is directed toward teacher and staff pay supplements. That is a real, multi-year cost for homeowners in the area. The district also executed a substantial boundary rezoning for the 2024-25 school year that shifted many students to different schools, so families new to the area should confirm their current assignment rather than assuming it from older information.
The housing market immediately around Potter's zip code reflects a home value that sits noticeably below both the Florida state median and the national median, and has been drifting downward year over year. Rents are also off slightly year over year. For a family weighing whether to rent or buy in this part of Tampa, the rent-to-income ratio sits at a level that housing economists typically flag as a stretch, though it remains lower than a typical mortgage payment on a purchase. The broader Tampa context is a city in an active development phase, with major projects concentrated downtown and in adjacent districts, large healthcare and defense employers, and a transit network that is improving but still auto-dependent in most neighborhoods east of downtown.
No information was provided about programs, extracurriculars, after-school offerings, staffing ratios, or attendance rates at Potter Elementary, so those dimensions cannot be described here. A parent considering this school would benefit from visiting in person, asking about specific literacy and math intervention programs, and understanding how the school's instructional model addresses the gap between current proficiency levels and grade-level standards.
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