The top reported proficiency rate is 67% in Math. The lowest is 61% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Heritage Elementary School
Heritage Elementary sits on East Meadows Road in the New Tampa area of Tampa, a part of the city that reads more like a planned suburban residential community than the urban core along the Hillsborough River. The surrounding area is far removed from the walkable downtown districts and historic neighborhoods people associate with Tampa proper. Families here are generally car-dependent, with daily life oriented around the subdivision-style streets and retail corridors of the 33647 zip code.
The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, making it a full elementary program. Enrollment lands in a range typical for a Hillsborough County elementary. The student population is genuinely diverse: white students make up the plurality, followed by Black students, then Hispanic students, then a meaningful share of Asian students, with multiracial students rounding out the count. Close to half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Heritage in a middle position on that economic measure, neither concentrated poverty nor a uniformly affluent school.
On state assessments, Heritage shows a picture worth understanding in detail. Florida's FAST assessment provides grade-level proficiency data for third, fourth, and fifth grade. In math, third and fifth graders tested at proficiency rates well above the majority, with fourth grade somewhat lower but still above the midpoint. In reading and language arts, results are more mixed: third grade came in at a solid majority proficient, but fourth grade dropped noticeably below that threshold, and fifth grade sat between the two. On the fifth-grade science assessment, roughly two-thirds of students scored proficient. None of these results are alarming, but the dip in fourth-grade ELA is real and a parent would do well to ask the school directly how it approaches reading development across those transitional years. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these numbers are improving, stable, or declining.
Chronic absenteeism and IEP or English learner population data were not reported in the available data, leaving gaps for families of students with disabilities or English-learning needs who would want to ask directly about support services.
Heritage is a regular public school in the Hillsborough County School District. Two district-level developments are worth knowing about. First, voters approved a property tax referendum in late 2024 that adds a meaningful annual cost for homeowners and runs through mid-2029, with revenue directed toward teacher and staff pay raises. Second, the district executed a major boundary rezoning for the 2024-2025 school year that reshuffled assignments across dozens of schools and affected a large number of students. Families who moved to New Tampa with a particular school assignment in mind should verify their current boundary placement, as this disruption may have touched the Heritage attendance zone or surrounding schools.
The housing market in the zip code reflects the broader New Tampa premium: home values sit noticeably above the Florida state median and above national benchmarks, though they have eased modestly over the past year. Rents are also higher than national norms but have dipped slightly year over year. For buyers at current mortgage rates, monthly costs are substantial, and the rent-to-income ratio is near the threshold many financial planners consider a stress point. These figures sit in the context of a broader Tampa metro that has been adding residents steadily, with major downtown development underway at Water Street and Gasworx, though employment data from early 2026 suggested some softening in local payroll growth.
No program information was available for Heritage, so it is not possible to speak to enrichment offerings, gifted services, or extracurriculars beyond the standard elementary structure. The comparison data covers only Hillsborough as a single-district county set, which does not produce meaningful peer positioning at the school level.
The school fits families who want a diverse, public neighborhood elementary with solid math results and are prepared to engage actively around reading outcomes in the middle elementary years.
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