The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in Math. The lowest is 30% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Tice Elementary School
Tice Elementary sits on Tice Street in Fort Myers, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within the Lee County school district. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Its enrollment lands in a moderate range for an elementary school of its grade span, and the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with that group making up the vast majority of enrolled children. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in the higher end of economic need for a Florida elementary. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs were not available in what was reported to us.
On state assessments, the picture is mixed and worth a close look. In math, Tice performs at roughly average or slightly above average for Florida elementary schools across third, fourth, and fifth grades, with third and fourth grade results sitting just above half of students reaching proficiency and fifth grade results somewhat lower. That is a middling outcome statewide but not an alarming one. Reading tells a different story. ELA proficiency in third and fifth grade sits well below half, and considerably below the math results at the same school. Fourth grade ELA is somewhat stronger but still does not reach half of students. Fifth grade science proficiency is also below half. These are areas where a parent would want to ask the school directly about literacy supports, intervention programs, and how reading development is tracked from kindergarten onward. Trend data across years was not available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether scores are improving, holding steady, or declining.
No program offerings were reported for Tice, so information about enrichment, arts, dual language, or other specialty programs is absent. Parents interested in those details would need to contact the school or the Lee County district directly.
The Lee County district has made several changes that affect families at Tice and across the system. The most immediate is the shift to a Proximity Plan for student assignment, which replaced a decades-old open choice system. Elementary students are now assigned to schools closer to home, and busing is only provided within defined proximity zones. Families living very close to their assigned school may not receive district transportation at all. If Tice is your neighborhood school under the new plan, busing eligibility depends on your specific address. Separately, Lee County voters switched the superintendent from an appointed to a directly elected, partisan position, a governance change that alters how district leadership is chosen and accountable. A voter-approved half-cent sales tax has funded capital construction and safety upgrades across the district, including weapons detection technology, but it is set to expire in 2028, and district leaders have publicly raised concern about what happens to construction, technology, and safety funding if it is not renewed.
The housing market around Tice reflects Fort Myers broadly. Home values in the zip code have declined year over year, sitting below the Florida state median and also below the national median, making the area more accessible for buyers than many parts of the state. Rents have also softened from recent peaks, though rent-to-income ratios remain a real burden for lower-income households. The broader Fort Myers area is part of one of the faster-growing metros in the country, though the pace has cooled from its pandemic-era peak. Downtown Fort Myers has a walkable historic core along the waterfront, but the Tice Street address itself is east of downtown in a more typical suburban corridor where car dependence is the norm. LeeTran public bus service operates out of a central hub downtown and covers much of the city, though frequency and coverage vary by route.
For a family considering Tice, the math results suggest students at grade level in numeracy are being served at a rate comparable to many Florida schools, but the reading proficiency gap across tested grades is a real consideration. Asking the school what early literacy interventions look like, what supports exist for English learners given the demographic profile, and how the proximity plan affects enrollment and transportation for your specific address would be the most productive starting points.
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