R. Frank Nims Middle School, Tallahassee FL

Original Research by School Decision on R. Frank Nims Middle School

R. Frank Nims Middle School sits on West Orange Avenue in Tallahassee, serving sixth through eighth graders in a city defined by state government, three universities, and a sprawling mix of neighborhoods that range from walkable downtown blocks to quieter residential districts further out. The school is a regular public middle school in the Leon County district, not a charter or magnet program.

The student body is predominantly Black, with Hispanic students making up a smaller share and white and multiracial students together representing a modest portion of enrollment. A very substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Nims among the higher-poverty schools in this context. The school's enrollment is mid-sized for a middle school. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in the records reviewed.

On state assessments, Nims's results are a candid picture a parent should understand fully. Florida administers the FAST assessment in math and ELA across all three middle grades, and the statewide science assessment in eighth grade. In math, fewer than a third of students in any grade reached proficiency, with seventh grade showing the lowest share and eighth grade the highest, though still well below the midpoint. ELA results run along a similar band, with roughly three in ten students scoring proficient across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The one brighter data point is eighth-grade science, where roughly half of students reached proficiency, a meaningfully better result than math or ELA in any grade. Placed against districts in Leon County, Nims's overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile of that comparison set. Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from this record whether results have been improving, holding, or declining. A parent considering Nims may want to ask the school directly about what academic support structures are in place, particularly for students who enter below grade level.

No program offerings data was available for this school. There is no information in the records about enrichment tracks, electives, intervention programs, or extracurricular activities. That is worth following up on directly with the school, since middle school programming varies considerably and the records here are silent on it.

No graduation rate applies to Nims, as it is a middle school and that metric belongs to high schools.

On the housing side, the zip code serving Nims carries home values well below both the Florida state median and the national median. Rents in the area are also on the modest end, and the rent-to-income ratio in the current market suggests renting is reasonably accessible relative to income. Home values in the area edged up very slightly year over year. For families seeking affordable entry into Tallahassee, the western corridor near Nims is among the more accessible parts of the city by housing cost, though it sits apart from the walkable downtown and Midtown clusters.

Tallahassee itself offers real civic infrastructure: a county library system with a main downtown branch and several branches, the StarMetro bus network connecting major destinations, and parks ranging from Cascades Park near downtown to the long rail-trail running south toward St. Marks. The city is adding housing in anticipation of continued growth, with new mixed-use projects and single-family rental communities coming online. The economy leans heavily on state government, Florida State University, Florida A&M University, and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, giving the job market a degree of stability.

The Leon County district brief returned no confirmed parent-relevant changes, such as curriculum shifts or referendum results, within the scope of available sources, so that ground is left out rather than filled with speculation.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 627%

School 27% · District 59% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 723%

School 23% · District 55% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 46% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 58% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 727%

School 27% · District 55% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 54% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Science

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 41% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

This schoolLEON, 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 6Lower-income30%Higher-income34%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income22%8 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income39%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income36%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income23%Higher-income24%1 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income38%7 pp gap