The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in English language arts. The lowest is 30% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Oak Hammock Middle School
Oak Hammock Middle School sits on Tice Street in Fort Myers, serving sixth through eighth graders as a regular public school within Lee County Schools. Its enrollment places it among the larger middle schools in the region for its grade band, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller share of white students, Black students, and a handful of other groups. More than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the economic circumstances many families here navigate day to day.
On Florida's state assessments, the picture is mixed and worth examining closely. In English language arts, proficiency rates across all three grade levels cluster in the low-to-mid forties, with eighth grade coming in a bit lower than sixth and seventh. Math tells a more varied story: sixth and eighth graders reach the low-to-mid forties, but seventh-grade math proficiency sits considerably lower, with fewer than a quarter of students reaching the proficient mark. Eighth-grade science shows roughly three in ten students scoring proficient on the statewide assessment. Across subjects and grades, these results land below what most parents would hope to see, and a family considering Oak Hammock would be wise to ask the school directly about how it identifies and supports students who are not yet meeting proficiency. Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether performance is improving, holding steady, or declining.
The school's one documented program offering is in arts and music, which is notably varied: band, choir, dance, general music, orchestra, and theater are all publicly reported as available. For a student drawn to performing arts, that breadth is a genuine asset at the middle school level, where these programs often shape long-term engagement with school. Data on IEP rates, English learner populations, staffing, chronic absenteeism, and course access were not included in what was available, so those are gaps a parent should fill through a direct conversation with the school or the district.
Fort Myers itself is a city in active growth, functioning as the Lee County seat. The downtown River District, publicly reported as the city's historic core, has brick-lined streets, waterfront restaurants, galleries, and performance venues, with Art Walk and Music Walk events drawing regular crowds. Outside that walkable enclave, the city runs along commercial corridors and is largely car-dependent. Healthcare dominates the local economy, with Lee Health operating as the region's largest employer; Chico's FAS, government, and hospitality round out the major employment base. The broader metro is among the faster-growing in the country, with multiple large residential projects underway downtown and a master-planned community under development. Housing near the school's zip code has come down noticeably from its recent peak, with both home values and rents declining year over year, though rent as a share of income remains high relative to most families' budgets.
Two district-level changes bear directly on families choosing a school here. Lee County shifted from an open School Choice assignment model to a Proximity Plan, first for elementary in 2023-24 and then extended to middle school in 2024-25. This means school assignments are now tied more tightly to where a family lives, and transportation eligibility depends on zone boundaries, not automatic busing as before. Anyone moving into the Fort Myers area should verify which proximity zone their address falls in before assuming their child will attend any particular school. Separately, the district's superintendent is now an elected, partisan position rather than an appointed one, following a voter-approved change that took effect with the 2024 election. A voter-approved sales tax, running through 2028, has funded school construction and safety upgrades across the district, including weapons detection technology; district leaders have publicly raised concern about what happens to those programs if the tax is not renewed.
See more original research from School Decision →