The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Math. The lowest is 26% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Blanche H. Daughtrey Elementary
Blanche H. Daughtrey Elementary sits on the east side of Bradenton, a PreK-through-fifth-grade public school in the Manatee County school district. The enrollment is moderately sized for an elementary school serving those grades. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of Black and white students, and a substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing it among Florida's higher-need elementary schools. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided.
The academic picture, drawn from Florida's FAST assessments in the 2024-25 school year, is the most important thing a parent weighing this school should sit with. In reading and language arts, fewer than a third of third, fourth, and fifth graders scored proficient, with fifth grade the weakest point. Math results are modestly stronger but still show that well under half of students in the tested grades reached proficiency, and the numbers decline from third grade through fifth. Fifth-grade science proficiency, measured by the Florida Statewide Science Assessment, lands at a similarly low level. There is a single sixth-grade math data point showing full proficiency, but that likely reflects a very small number of students and should not be read as representative of the school's math picture overall. A parent would be well served asking the school directly about its current reading and math intervention programs and how progress is tracked for individual students.
Trend data across years was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving, holding steady, or declining.
Bradenton itself gives families some tangible context. The city is the Manatee County seat, built around a compact downtown along the Manatee River that publicly reported sources describe as walkable and culturally active, with the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, the Manatee Performing Arts Center, ArtCenter Manatee, and a weekly public market running through much of the year. The Village of the Arts district, originally a neighborhood of early-20th-century bungalows, operates as a live-work arts community. Beyond downtown, the broader city is auto-oriented along corridors like Cortez Road and Manatee Avenue. Major area employers include Tropicana, which has operated its main production plant in Bradenton for decades, as well as the school district itself, Bealls, First Watch, and Manatee Memorial Hospital.
The housing market in the zip code surrounding the school is currently priced near the national median, and home values have pulled back meaningfully over the past year while rents have edged slightly higher. The estimated monthly mortgage cost for a home at current values runs well above what the rent-to-income math suggests is comfortable at national median income levels, which is worth factoring in for families still deciding whether to buy or rent in this part of Manatee County.
At the district level, two developments matter directly to families at Daughtrey. The Manatee County School District redrew elementary and middle school attendance zones in response to rapid enrollment growth, meaning some students' school assignments have already changed. Families should confirm current zone assignments rather than assuming prior boundaries still apply. Separately, voters renewed a one-mill property tax referendum in late 2024 that publicly reported sources say funds teacher salary supplements, an extended school day, STEM and career-technical programs, early literacy work, athletics, and school safety. That renewal affects both what programs the district can sustain and the property tax burden for homeowners in the county.
The comparison framework for Manatee County includes only one district, so a formal peer comparison of proficiency results is not possible from the available data.
For a family weighing Daughtrey specifically, the academic proficiency results are below what most parents hope for and below typical Florida statewide benchmarks. That does not tell you everything about a school, but it is a real, documented pattern across multiple subjects and grades that deserves a direct conversation with the school about what support students receive and what measurable progress looks like for children who arrive needing to build foundational skills.
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