The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Math. The lowest is 27% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Franklin Park Elementary School
Franklin Park Elementary sits on Marsh Avenue in Fort Myers, serving children from kindergarten through fifth grade in Lee County's public school system. Pre-kindergarten is listed in the grade band but shows no enrolled students in the current data. The school draws from a neighborhood where the vast majority of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing it among the more economically challenged campuses in a district that already serves a wide range of communities. Racially, the student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial Hispanic share and a small number of white and multiracial students. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided.
State assessment results from Florida's FAST exams give the clearest academic picture. In math, third graders scored below half proficiency, fourth graders came in lower still, and fifth graders were the strongest of the three tested grades, though still just under half reached proficiency. ELA results were softer across the board: third through fifth graders all fell in roughly the low-to-mid twenties in terms of proficiency, with fourth grade the weakest. Fifth-grade science, measured by the Florida Statewide Science Assessment, landed near the same range as ELA. Taken together, these results sit well below Florida statewide norms, and parents whose children are approaching grade-level benchmarks or who are working to catch up should ask the school specifically about its reading intervention and math support structures. Multi-year trend data was not available, so whether the school is moving in a positive direction or holding steady cannot be assessed from what was provided.
The neighbor comparison data could not be used to position Franklin Park against peer schools because only one district operates in Lee County, making a meaningful comparison set unavailable.
The surrounding area is Fort Myers proper, the Lee County seat. Fort Myers is a genuinely large, fast-growing city by Florida standards, with the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro among the faster-growing in the country in recent years, though that growth pace has moderated. The downtown River District, with its walkable brick streets, waterfront, galleries, and restaurants, gives the city an identifiable civic core. Healthcare dominates the local employment base, led by the Lee Health system along with several large physician groups and specialty practices. Chico's FAS and Lee County government, including the school district itself, round out the major employers. The Marsh Avenue address places Franklin Park in the eastern part of the city, away from the downtown core and more dependent on car travel, consistent with most of Southwest Florida outside the River District.
Housing near the school, measured by the zip code, runs below both the Florida statewide median and the national median, and values have declined year over year. Rents have also eased recently. Affordability is still a stretch relative to local incomes, with rent consuming a meaningful share of a typical household's earnings, but the housing market here is meaningfully more accessible than much of coastal Florida.
Three district-level developments are worth a parent's attention. Lee County restructured its school assignment system with a Proximity Plan that began at the elementary level and replaced a longstanding districtwide school choice program. Under the current rules, students are assigned to schools close to home, and busing is only provided within defined proximity zones, with no transportation for families living very close to their assigned school. Families should verify current zone assignments and transportation eligibility directly with the district before making housing decisions. Second, Lee County voters shifted the superintendent role from a board-appointed position to a partisan elected office, with the first election held in 2024. Third, a voter-approved half-cent sales tax running through 2028 has funded new construction and safety upgrades across the district, including weapons detection systems and new school buildings in the East Zone. District leaders have publicly flagged concern about capital and security funding if that tax is not renewed before its expiration.
Program offerings specific to Franklin Park were not available in the data provided.
See more original research from School Decision →