The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Science. The lowest is 27% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Lockhart Elementary Magnet School
Lockhart Elementary Magnet School sits on North 17th Street in Tampa, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within Hillsborough County Public Schools. The school draws an enrollment that is small-to-mid-sized for its grade band, and its student population is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of Hispanic and white students. A very large share of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances of the surrounding neighborhood.
State testing results from Florida's FAST assessments and the Statewide Science Assessment tell a consistent story: proficiency rates across reading, math, and science are low relative to what Florida broadly reports. In third through fifth grade ELA, scores range from the upper-twenties to the upper-thirties, with fifth grade reading the strongest showing. Math results are lower still, particularly at third grade, and trail ELA at every tested level. Fifth grade science falls in a similar range to fifth grade ELA. Taken together, fewer than half of students are reaching proficiency in any tested subject or grade. A parent should be clear-eyed about this and would be well served by asking the school directly what its current instructional supports look like and whether there are targeted interventions for students working below grade level. The data does not include trend comparisons, so whether performance has been improving, holding, or declining is not something the available information can resolve.
The school carries the "magnet" designation in its name, though the data provided does not specify the magnet's theme, application process, or how students are selected or assigned. A family considering Lockhart should ask the school or the district what programming differentiates it and whether enrollment is open to students outside the immediate neighborhood.
Discipline, attendance, and chronic absenteeism data were not available in what was provided. IEP and English learner rates were also missing, so the picture of how the school serves students with disabilities or multilingual learners is incomplete.
The neighborhood around North 17th Street is a residential part of Tampa's east side, removed from the downtown development activity concentrated along the Hillsborough River and Water Street. Housing in the immediate zip code is priced well below the Florida state median and below the national benchmark, and both home values and rents in the area have pulled back modestly over the past year. Rents sit at a level that, measured against income, runs close to a third of household income, suggesting affordability is stretched even at prices below the statewide norm. For families weighing whether to purchase, the monthly mortgage burden on a typical local home is meaningful.
Two district-wide changes are worth knowing. Hillsborough County voters approved a property tax referendum in late 2024 that takes effect beginning July 2025 and runs through 2029, generating funding to raise teacher and staff pay. Homeowners in the district will carry that additional tax cost. Separately, the district carried out a significant boundary rezoning for the 2024-2025 school year, affecting a large number of schools and moving a substantial number of students. Families should confirm that Lockhart's attendance boundaries and magnet access rules are current before planning around them.
Hillsborough County is effectively a single-district county for comparison purposes, so a relative ranking against neighboring districts is not available from the data on hand.
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