New Springs Schools, Tampa FL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on New Springs Schools

New Springs Schools is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade on East Busch Boulevard in Tampa, operating under the Hillsborough County school district umbrella. It is a small school by any measure, drawing students from the surrounding north Tampa area. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this one of the highest-poverty student populations in the region. The student body is roughly split between Black and Hispanic students, with a smaller share of white students and a few others. Data on English learner and special education rates were not available in the materials we reviewed.

State testing results from Florida's FAST assessment paint a clear picture of where academic proficiency stands. In math, the school's grade-level results range from quite low at the bottom of the elementary grades to a particularly sharp drop at eighth grade, where only a small fraction of students tested as proficient. ELA proficiency across grades runs in a similar range, consistently below where most Florida schools land, with sixth and seventh grade showing the weakest readings. Science proficiency at fifth grade was also low, though the eighth-grade science result was notably stronger than the rest of the school's tested results, standing above the majority of scores the school produced. A parent should ask the school directly what instructional supports are in place for students performing below grade level, particularly in math.

No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or a stable baseline. No information on programs, course offerings, staffing, discipline, or attendance was provided. A graduation rate does not apply here because the school does not serve high school grades.

The comparison framework for Hillsborough County produced only one district in the relevant set, which means a meaningful side-by-side positioning against county peers was not possible with the available data.

The neighborhood around East Busch Boulevard sits in north Tampa, a part of the city that carries a more utilitarian, working-community character than the better-publicized areas like Hyde Park or Davis Islands. Tampa as a whole is in the middle of a growth cycle concentrated further south and downtown, with Water Street Tampa and the Gasworx district drawing investment and new residents into the urban core. The housing market near the school reflects this geography: home values in the immediate zip code sit meaningfully below the Florida statewide midpoint and below national benchmarks, and have edged slightly lower year over year. Rents have also dipped modestly. For a family weighing whether to buy near the school, the local price-to-income ratio is more manageable than in many Florida markets, though mortgage costs at current rates still represent a real monthly commitment.

Families in Hillsborough County broadly should know that voters approved a property tax increase in late 2024 to fund teacher pay raises, running through mid-2029. Publicly reported accounts indicate this levy applies to charter schools as well under state law, so New Springs could benefit from the salary supplement it provides, though the specifics of how the school applies those funds were not available. The district also carried out a major boundary rezoning for traditional public schools for the 2024-25 year, though as a charter school, New Springs operates outside those assignment boundaries.

New Springs will fit a family that has chosen a smaller, charter-run K-8 setting and lives in or near the north Tampa corridor. The academic proficiency data, taken at face value, suggests that most students are not yet meeting state grade-level standards in math and reading, and a parent weighing enrollment will want to have a direct conversation with the school about how it supports students who come in behind grade level and what its track record looks like for students who stay through the middle grades.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 58% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 59% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 54% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 54% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 736%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 58% · ▼ 52 pts below district

▼ 45 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 53% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 438%

School 38% · District 53% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 53% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 55% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 732%

School 32% · District 55% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 52% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Science

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 50% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 48% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

This schoolHILLSBOROUGH, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income26%Higher-income36%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income36%8 pp gap