Bonifay K-8 School, Bonifay FL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Bonifay K-8 School

Bonifay K-8 School sits at the center of Bonifay, a small rural county-seat city in Holmes County in Florida's Panhandle. It serves prekindergarten through eighth grade, making it the school where most children in Bonifay spend their entire elementary and middle years before moving on to Holmes County High School. The enrollment is large for a rural K-8 in this region, drawing students from the city and surrounding farmland. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economically modest character of Holmes County more broadly.

The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. Data on English learner enrollment and students with individualized education programs were not available in what was provided, so parents with children in those categories may want to ask the school directly about support services. No program offerings data was included in what we received, so specific curricular programs, extracurriculars, or special course access cannot be described here.

On state assessments, the picture varies noticeably by grade and subject. In math, proficiency is reasonably solid in the early elementary grades but drops in the upper elementary and middle grades, with eighth grade math being a particular soft spot. A parent whose child is approaching the middle grades may want to ask the school how it supports students as math difficulty increases. ELA follows a different arc: third grade reads at a middling level, fourth and fifth are lower, then seventh grade climbs back up to a stronger position before falling somewhat in eighth. Science proficiency at fifth and eighth grades lands roughly around or just below half of students tested. None of these figures place the school among Florida's top performers, and parents should go in with clear eyes on that, while also recognizing that the school operates in a rural, high-poverty context that the statewide assessment does not adjust for. Multi-year trend data was not available, so whether performance is improving, holding, or declining cannot be assessed from what was provided.

The Holmes district made a meaningful change for families in early 2025 when it expanded free, on-campus telehealth services to every school in the district through a partnership with PanCare of Florida. Publicly reported, this means students at Bonifay K-8 can now see a licensed provider during the school day at no cost to families, regardless of insurance status, with parental consent. In a rural county where healthcare access is limited, this is a practical shift that reduces what parents would otherwise have to arrange on their own.

The community around the school is quiet and low-key. Bonifay's downtown has a traditional feel, with local shops, restaurants, and civic buildings, and events like the Down Home Street Festival bring the community together. The pace is slow, daily life is auto-dependent, and the major employers are largely governmental: the school system itself, state agencies, and Doctors Memorial Hospital. Agriculture, particularly peanut farming, shapes the economy and social identity of the surrounding county.

Housing in the area is priced well below both the Florida and national medians, which makes Bonifay accessible to buyers who cannot afford coastal or metro-area markets. Home values have edged slightly downward over the past year, roughly in line with statewide trends. Rent data was not available. The area is showing early signs of development pressure tied to a State Road 79 corridor expansion project, which is expected to bring new commercial activity and jobs south of the Interstate 10 interchange over the coming decade, along with some new multifamily housing. Bonifay's population has grown modestly in recent years, and publicly reported sources note a housing shortage at present.

Because Holmes County has only one district, the comparison set does not produce a meaningful peer ranking, so no relative positioning among county districts is possible.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 66% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 465%

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

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 48% · ▲ 7 pts above district

even with state median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 49% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 54% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 19 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 57% · ▼ 1 pts below district

even with state median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 43% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 40% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 53% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 761%

School 61% · District 56% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 55% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median

Science

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 47% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 1 pts above state median

This schoolHOLMES, 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-income53%Higher-income63%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income37%Higher-income57%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income67%34 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income36%Higher-income73%37 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income51%Higher-income78%27 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income68%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income65%Higher-income76%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income58%Higher-income83%25 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income48%Higher-income72%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income65%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income47%Higher-income72%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income24%Higher-income46%22 pp gap