Hosford Elementary Junior High School, Hosford FL

Original Research by School Decision on Hosford Elementary Junior High School

Hosford Elementary Junior High School sits at the rural crossroads of State Road 20 and State Road 65 in Hosford, a small unincorporated community in Liberty County deep in the Florida Panhandle. It is the only school in town, serving children from kindergarten through eighth grade, which means every family in Hosford traces a single path through these halls before sending their child on to Liberty County High School in the county seat of Bristol. The enrollment is small for a combined elementary and junior high school, the student body is overwhelmingly white with a modest Hispanic population and very few students of other racial or ethnic backgrounds, and roughly a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. IEP and English learner rates were not available in the data.

On Florida's FAST assessments, the math picture is generally solid. Fourth grade in particular stands out, with most students reaching proficiency, and seventh grade is also strong. Third and fifth grades come in somewhat lower but still above the majority threshold, and sixth grade math sits just above the midpoint. Eighth grade math results were suppressed, likely because the grade is small enough that individual privacy rules apply. Parents who want a clearer picture of eighth grade outcomes would be worth asking the school directly.

Reading and writing tell a different story. ELA proficiency across all tested grades runs well below the math figures, with the majority of students in most grades not reaching proficiency on the FAST ELA assessment. Sixth grade is the lowest point, though scores tick upward by eighth grade. This gap between math and literacy performance is worth a closer look for any family with a child who struggles with reading, and a parent may reasonably want to ask what specific supports or interventions the school has in place.

Science results are mixed in a striking way: fifth grade science proficiency is below the majority threshold, while eighth grade science is strong, with roughly three in four students proficient. The jump between those two points is one of the sharper swings in the data.

No trend data was available to assess whether performance is improving or holding steady, so this is a single-year snapshot only.

The community itself is genuinely rural. Housing values here sit well below both the Florida and national medians, with year-over-year appreciation that has been modest, making this one of the more affordable housing markets in the state. The area is car-dependent, framed by planted pine timber and the Apalachicola National Forest, and new construction on multi-acre lots has been active, suggesting some residential growth. Publicly reported sources describe the housing stock as relatively new compared to national norms. There is no walkable commercial core; daily errands and civic life require driving, and the nearest college options, including North Florida Community College and Tallahassee Community College, are outside the community.

At the district level, voters approved a multi-year half-cent school capital outlay surtax, publicly reported as running through 2030, dedicated to facilities construction, renovation, and technology. That funding stream is relevant to the physical condition and modernization of the school building a student attends today. Separately, the district has received state funding for a vocational Allied Health facility at the high school in Bristol, which expands career and technical education options, though that pathway comes after a student leaves Hosford and moves on to ninth grade.

For a family already rooted in Hosford, or one drawn by the affordable land and rural character, this school is the local path through eighth grade. The math performance gives a reasonable foundation. The literacy numbers are a real consideration, and families with early readers or students who have historically needed reading support should go in with specific questions about how those gaps are addressed here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 71% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 54% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 72% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 661%

School 61% · District 64% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 776%

School 76% · District 71% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 57% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 66% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 59% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 56% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 51% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 861%

School 61% · District 65% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median

Science

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 46% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median

Grade 875%

School 75% · District 74% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median

This schoolLIBERTY, 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 3Lower-income53%Higher-income55%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income80%Higher-income39%41 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income58%8 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income64%49 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income55%Higher-income53%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income42%Higher-income75%33 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income67%Higher-income68%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income90%Higher-income85%5 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income50%Higher-income68%18 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income58%Higher-income88%30 pp gap