Pinecrest Academy Tavares, Tavares FL

Original Research by School Decision on Pinecrest Academy Tavares

Pinecrest Academy Tavares is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Tavares, the county seat of Lake County in central Florida. Situated about 35 miles northwest of Orlando on the edge of a chain of lakes, Tavares carries a distinct identity as a seaplane and recreation destination, with a walkable waterfront downtown, county government offices, and AdventHealth Waterman hospital among its major employers. The town is actively growing, with new mixed-use and mixed-income residential projects underway as of 2025, and Lake County as a whole is among Florida's faster-growing regions.

The school draws a meaningfully diverse student body. White students make up the largest share, followed by Hispanic students, with Black students and students of two or more races and Asian students each present as well. Close to half of all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing economic diversity squarely in the picture. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not reported in the available records, so parents seeking detail on those supports should ask the school directly.

On Florida's FAST assessments, the academic picture is genuinely strong in several places and softer in others. Math proficiency across the tested elementary grades runs well above what one might expect, with fourth grade standing out as especially high and third and fifth grade both solidly above most statewide comparisons. Sixth-grade math proficiency is particularly striking. Seventh grade math is the notable soft spot, dipping considerably below the school's other grades and below state midpoints, and parents with children heading into seventh grade may want to ask the school how it addresses that transition. ELA results are more consistent across grades, with third grade on the lower end, fifth grade slightly lower still, and grades four, six, seven, and eight all performing well, seventh and eighth grade ELA being among the school's cleaner results. Fifth-grade science proficiency lands just below the majority threshold, which is worth noting though not unusual for that tested grade.

Because the comparison universe for this school in Lake County contains only one district, a meaningful peer-district comparison was not possible, so the results above are placed against state-level context only.

Pinecrest Academy Tavares does not serve ninth through twelfth grade, so graduation rates and AP or dual-enrollment pathways do not apply here. Families should plan on a transition to a separate high school at the end of eighth grade.

The school's extracurricular offerings are modest in count but varied in character: Art Club, Middle School Art Club, Craft Club, LEGO Club, STEM Club, and Trading Card Club are publicly listed. There is no data available in the provided records on course access beyond state testing, staffing ratios, attendance, or discipline patterns.

On the housing side, the area around the school sits in a zip code where home values have pulled back modestly year over year, running somewhat below the Florida statewide median. Rents have edged up slightly. Mortgage affordability relative to income is in line with national norms, and the rent-to-income ratio is close to the standard threshold many financial planners cite.

At the district level, Lake County voters in 2022 renewed a dedicated school safety property tax that funds safety officers, nurses, and mental health staff including psychologists, social workers, and counselors. A separate ballot measure is scheduled for November 2026 that would add to that levy to support teacher pay; if approved, it would take effect in 2027. Florida's statewide cell phone ban in classrooms, in effect since 2024-2025, applies here as it does across all public schools in the state.

For a family weighing Pinecrest Academy Tavares: the school offers a racially and economically mixed community, generally strong math and ELA performance in most grades, a lakeside small-city setting that is growing without yet feeling overbuilt, and a K-8 structure that keeps students in one place for nine years. The seventh-grade math result and the thinner extracurricular and support-services data are the areas where more conversation with the school is warranted before making a decision.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 63% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 62% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 57% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 692%

School 92% · District 57% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 43% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 56% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 474%

School 74% · District 53% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 54% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 675%

School 75% · District 57% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 780%

School 80% · District 55% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 877%

School 77% · District 53% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Science

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 55% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

This schoolLAKE, 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-income59%Higher-income74%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income65%Higher-income81%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income71%27 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income65%Higher-income84%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income71%Higher-income88%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income82%Higher-income71%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income66%Higher-income83%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income75%Higher-income88%13 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income63%Higher-income75%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income92%Higher-income91%1 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income48%Higher-income63%15 pp gap