The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Science. The lowest is 49% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Tavares Elementary School
Tavares Elementary sits at the heart of Tavares, Florida's county seat, a small-town community on Lake Dora's waterfront about 35 miles northwest of Orlando. The school serves children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, making graduation rates and many state testing comparisons irrelevant here by design. Science is only tested in the upper elementary grades, so the school's tested range is naturally narrower than a middle or high school.
On Florida's FAST assessments, the picture is mixed but shows a clear upward pattern across grade levels. In both reading and math, third graders score at a level where roughly a third reach proficiency, which is low. By fourth grade, roughly half are proficient in each subject, and by fifth grade, scores in reading, math, and the statewide science assessment all cluster in a range where slightly more than half to close to three-fifths of students are meeting the standard. The direction is encouraging; the lower third-grade results are worth asking the school about directly, particularly what early literacy and math supports are available for children who arrive below grade level. A parent may want to explore how the school identifies students who need intervention and what that looks like in practice.
The student body is sizable for an elementary school, drawn from a genuinely diverse community. White students make up roughly the largest single group, with Black and Hispanic students each composing meaningful shares of the population, and students of two or more races adding further variety. A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning the school works with a population that includes a substantial proportion of economically disadvantaged families. Data on English learner counts and students with individualized education plans was not reported in the sources available, so a parent with children in either category should ask the school directly about those services.
Tavares itself is an active, waterfront-oriented town. Life in Lake County's county seat revolves around Lakes Dora, Eustis, and Harris, a walkable downtown entertainment district, and a well-known identity as a seaplane community. AdventHealth Waterman is a major local employer, along with county government and the school district itself. The broader county is among Florida's growing areas, and new housing is publicly reported to be under active development in town, including downtown mixed-use projects and a Live Local Act apartment development near a main corridor.
Families buying in the area will find home values that sit modestly below the Florida statewide benchmark, with the local market having cooled slightly year over year. Rents have edged up over the same period. Monthly mortgage costs relative to income sit at a ratio consistent with conditions seen in many mid-sized Florida markets. The county is actively growing, which shapes school enrollment trajectories worth watching.
At the district level, Lake County voters publicly renewed a school safety property tax in 2022, continuing dedicated funding for safety officers, mental health staff including psychologists, social workers, and counselors, and alternative education programs. Commissioners have since voted to place an additional millage on the November 2026 ballot that would fund teacher pay and retention on top of the existing safety levy; families considering a long-term commitment to the area would weigh that potential tax change. The district has also opened several new schools in recent years to absorb county growth, including a new K-8 academy in the south county that required attendance boundary changes. Florida's statewide ban on student cell phone use during instructional time is in effect at this school, as at all Florida public schools.
Comparison data against other Lake County districts was not usable here because the comparison set contains only one district, so no meaningful relative positioning is available from that source.
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