Hillsborough Academy of Math and Science, Tampa FL

Original Research by School Decision on Hillsborough Academy of Math and Science

Hillsborough Academy of Math and Science is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade charter school on the west side of Tampa, operating within the Hillsborough County school district. It draws students from across the area rather than from a single assigned attendance zone, which is the nature of charter enrollment.

The school's name signals a math and science focus, and that identity shapes what families are choosing when they apply. Charter schools in Florida are public schools, tuition-free, and as publicly reported, this school receives a share of any district millage revenue under state law. Hillsborough County voters approved a new property tax levy in late 2024 that runs through mid-2029, aimed at raising teacher and staff pay, so the school benefits from that funding alongside district schools.

State assessment results from the most recent year are available across all tested grades. In math, the picture is uneven across the grade band. Third grade stands out as a clear strength, with a large majority of students reaching proficiency on the FAST Math assessment. Seventh grade also comes in well above the midpoint. The middle grades tell a different story: fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth grade math proficiency rates fall to around or just above half, and a parent may want to ask the school directly about what explains the dip in those years and what support structures are in place. In ELA, proficiency rates cluster in the high fifties to high sixties across grades, with third grade again the strongest and fourth grade the lowest point. ELA results are more consistent grade to grade than math results, though none of the ELA grades reach the level third-grade math does. Science is tested in fifth and eighth grades under Florida's Statewide Science Assessment, and both come in just below half of students proficient. For a school with a math and science identity, the science numbers are worth asking about. Multi-year trend data was not available in the data provided, so whether these results represent improvement, stability, or decline cannot be assessed here.

Enrollment is moderate in size for a K-8 school, spread fairly evenly across grades with a slightly larger seventh-grade cohort. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a meaningful share of white students and smaller shares of other groups. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a broadly lower-income population. Data on students with IEPs and English learners was not reported in the data provided, so families who need to evaluate special education or language support services should inquire with the school directly.

Discipline data, staffing ratios, chronic absenteeism rates, and course access details were not available. A comparison against other Hillsborough County district schools on proficiency or absenteeism measures was not calculable from the data provided.

The school sits in the West Waters Avenue corridor of Tampa, a suburban residential stretch well removed from the downtown core and the cultural districts that define the city's public identity. Tampa itself is a large city with a genuinely varied character: walkable historic neighborhoods like Hyde Park and Seminole Heights, active waterfront development downtown through projects like Water Street Tampa, major employers in defense, healthcare, and finance, and a transit network run by HART. The West Tampa location means families are relying on personal transportation to access most of those amenities.

Housing near the school falls into a market that has cooled from recent peaks. Prices in the area's zip codes remain above the Florida state benchmark and above the national median, though both home values and rents have declined year over year. Mortgage carrying costs relative to income sit above comfortable norms nationally, so affordability is a real constraint for buyers entering this market.

The district's recent boundary rezoning affected a large number of schools and students for the 2024-2025 year, though as a charter school HAMS operates outside the traditional attendance boundary system. Families choosing it are doing so by application rather than by address, which insulates them from those reassignment changes.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 381%

School 81% · District 58% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 59% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 54% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 54% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 774%

School 74% · District 36% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 852%

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

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 53% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 53% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 53% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 55% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 55% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 52% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 50% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 48% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 2 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 3Lower-income64%Higher-income82%17 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income72%22 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income55%Higher-income69%14 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income63%Higher-income68%5 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income59%Higher-income79%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income57%Higher-income79%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income77%Higher-income89%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income54%Higher-income76%22 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income59%6 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income55%Higher-income44%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income59%Higher-income92%33 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income55%Higher-income48%7 pp gap