The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in Science. The lowest is 37% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Warren Hope Dawson Elementary
Warren Hope Dawson Elementary sits on Boggy Creek Drive in Riverview, a fast-growing unincorporated community southeast of Tampa. It serves children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within Hillsborough County Public Schools. The enrollment is on the larger side for an elementary school, spread fairly evenly across grade levels, with prekindergarten through the primary grades well represented.
The student body is racially mixed in a way that reflects Riverview's broader demographic character. Hispanic and white students each make up roughly a third of enrollment, Black students account for close to a fifth, and multiracial students represent a meaningful portion of the rest. Around a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a moderate share by Florida standards. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in the records we reviewed, so families with children in those categories may want to ask the school directly about its support programs and service capacity.
On Florida's FAST assessments, the school's proficiency results across the tested grades are below the midpoint of what a parent might hope to see. In English language arts, the lower elementary grades come in at roughly the low-to-mid forties for proficient students, while fifth grade is notably stronger, reaching the mid-fifties. Math results are weaker, with the tested grades ranging from the low thirties to the low forties. On the fifth-grade statewide science assessment, roughly half of students tested as proficient. The comparison infrastructure for placing these results against other Hillsborough County districts is not usable here because the county has only one district, so we cannot position the school against peers in that way. Multi-year trend data were not available, so it is not possible to tell from this data set whether results are improving, holding steady, or declining. A parent who wants to understand trajectory should ask the school about its internal progress data.
No program information was provided in the data we received, so enrichment offerings, special programs, or intervention structures are not described here.
The surrounding community is worth understanding for any family considering a home in the area. Riverview has been one of Florida's fastest-growing communities for years, driven heavily by families relocating from the Northeast and Midwest. Housing runs the spectrum from starter single-family homes to larger planned-community estates. Home values in the zip code are currently running slightly above the Florida state benchmark and above the national average, though they have dipped modestly year over year. Rents have edged up slightly over the same period. At current mortgage rates, the estimated monthly carrying cost of a typical home in this zip is substantial, and the rent-to-income calculation sits near the threshold that housing economists flag as strained. Growth continues actively, with new residential construction under way and road infrastructure projects trying to keep pace along US-301 and Big Bend Road.
There are two district-level developments worth flagging. Voters approved a property tax referendum in late 2024 that runs through mid-2029, adding a levy tied to assessed home value to fund teacher and support staff pay increases. For homeowners in the district, this is a real, ongoing cost. Separately, the district undertook a significant rezoning for the 2024-2025 school year affecting a large number of schools and potentially many thousands of students. Families should confirm their current address assignment directly with Hillsborough County Public Schools, since boundaries in this area have been actively redrawn.
Civically, Riverview offers the Alafia River for outdoor recreation, a well-equipped county public library branch with makerspaces and meeting rooms, and parks including the Riverview Civic Center on the river. Daily errands are almost entirely car-dependent outside of the Winthrop Town Centre node. Most residents commute by car, often into the broader Tampa metro.
For a family with a child entering or progressing through elementary school, Warren Hope Dawson offers a racially diverse, mid-sized school in a growing neighborhood. The academic proficiency results are below what many families would set as a benchmark, and the absence of trend data and program details leaves real questions open. Those are worth bringing to the school directly.
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