The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in Math. The lowest is 22% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Washington Elementary School
Washington Elementary School sits on Estelle Street in Tampa's 33605 zip code, a neighborhood just east of the Ybor City Historic District and within short reach of downtown's civic core along the Hillsborough River. The school is a regular public elementary serving prekindergarten through fifth grade within Hillsborough County School District, and its enrollment is small for a Tampa elementary.
The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, together making up a very large share of enrollment, with a small white population and minimal representation from other groups. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school firmly in the high-economic-need tier. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs were not available in what was provided.
State assessment results from Florida's FAST and Statewide Science Assessment for the most recent school year give a candid picture of academic performance. In math, proficiency is low in third grade, climbs noticeably in fourth grade, then falls back in fifth grade. In ELA, proficiency is quite low across all three tested grades, with third grade the weakest and fourth grade showing a modest uptick before fifth grade dips again. Fifth-grade science proficiency is similarly low. A sixth-grade math result was suppressed, likely because group size was too small to report. No prior-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving, holding steady, or declining. Parents who want to understand trajectory should ask the school directly about growth measures, which Florida also tracks separately from proficiency. Because Hillsborough County has only one district for comparison purposes here, a peer comparison across county districts was not possible.
A graduation rate does not apply to this school, which serves only the early grades through fifth. Chronic absenteeism data was not reported in the available data.
Program information was not provided, so it is not possible to say whether the school offers enrichment, dual-language, or specialized instructional models. That is worth asking the school about directly, particularly given the neighborhood's large Hispanic population where a bilingual or Spanish-heritage program would be relevant to many families.
Two district-level changes are worth knowing. Hillsborough voters approved a property tax referendum in late 2024, publicly reported as adding a meaningful annual cost for homeowners in exchange for multi-year teacher and staff pay supplements aimed at easing chronic teacher shortages. The millage runs through mid-2029. Separately, the district passed a significant boundary rezoning for the 2024-2025 school year that reshuffled assignments across dozens of schools and moved a large number of students; families in this part of Tampa should confirm their current assignment has not changed or may not change again.
The housing market surrounding the school shows home values modestly below both the statewide and national medians, with a year-over-year decline in home prices and a small uptick in rents. The price-to-income ratio still sits at a level that makes ownership a stretch at current mortgage rates, and rent consumes a meaningful share of a median renter household's income. Tampa broadly is in an active growth phase, with major mixed-use development in the Water Street and Gasworx districts concentrated a mile or two west and northwest of this neighborhood, and the broader metro adding population steadily, though with some softening in the labor market as of early 2026.
For a family already in this neighborhood, Washington Elementary is the assigned public option. The proficiency results are well below state norms and warrant a closer conversation with school leadership about instructional supports, student growth data, and what intervention programs are in place for children who are behind grade level.
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