The top reported proficiency rate is 48% in Math. The lowest is 36% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Edgewood Academy
Edgewood Academy is a public elementary school in Fort Myers serving prekindergarten through fifth grade. It sits on Edgewood Avenue in the 33916 zip code, a residential pocket within Lee County's county seat, and draws a student body that is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with a substantial share of families qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs was not available in the records we reviewed, so parents with students in those categories may want to ask the school directly.
The academic picture, from Florida's FAST assessments in the most recent school year reported, is one a parent should look at honestly. In third grade, roughly half of students tested at grade-level in math, and somewhat fewer in reading. By fifth grade, both figures drop to well below half, with fifth-grade reading proficiency particularly low. Fifth-grade science results follow a similar pattern. There are no prior-year results in the data to determine whether these numbers reflect improvement, decline, or a stable plateau, and we were not able to compare Edgewood directly to other Lee County schools because the county's comparison set contained only one district, making peer comparisons statistically inapplicable. What the data does show is that proficiency rates sit meaningfully below what Florida benchmarks would suggest is grade-level mastery for a majority of students. Parents whose children need strong academic support may want to explore with the school what intervention programs and literacy resources are in place.
On program offerings, the data provided did not include specifics, so that is a question worth raising directly with the school.
The broader Lee County district context matters here. Lee County recently replaced a longstanding school choice and busing system with a proximity-based assignment plan that went into effect for elementary students a couple of years ago. Under that model, students are assigned to schools near home and transportation is only provided within defined proximity zones, with no busing at all for families living within two miles of the school. Anyone relocating to Fort Myers should verify which zone their specific address falls in before assuming Edgewood is their assigned school or that busing would be available. The district is also governed by an elected, partisan superintendent following a voter referendum, a structural shift that changes how district leadership is selected and to whom it is accountable. A voter-approved half-cent sales tax has funded capital improvements and safety upgrades across the district, including weapons detection technology and new school construction, but that tax is set to expire in a few years and its renewal is an open question.
The housing market immediately around Edgewood is worth contextualizing. Typical home values in this zip code are well below both the Florida state median and the national median, and have declined year over year by a notable margin. Rents have also softened. For a buyer, that means relative affordability compared to coastal Lee County zip codes, though the rent-to-income ratio still runs at a level that can strain lower-income households. Fort Myers itself is one of the faster-growing metros in the country, with downtown undergoing a wave of residential construction and the region's employment base anchored in healthcare, government, and retail. The city's historic downtown River District, with its walkable streets and waterfront, is a few miles from Edgewood Avenue, but the school's immediate neighborhood is part of a more conventionally car-dependent stretch of the city.
Edgewood is a neighborhood school in a high-need community. The academic results as reported indicate that a majority of students are not yet reaching proficiency in core subjects by the upper elementary grades, and a parent weighing enrollment should ask the school detailed questions about how it supports students who are behind and what the trajectory looks like for individual children.
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