Samoset Elementary School, Bradenton FL

Original Research by School Decision on Samoset Elementary School

Samoset Elementary sits on the eastern edge of Bradenton, serving prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the Manatee County School District. The school draws a predominantly Hispanic student body, with Black and white students making up most of the remainder. A very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this one of the higher-poverty campuses in the district. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in the information provided.

Academic performance on Florida's FAST assessments is a clear concern. Across the grades tested in ELA, proficiency rates are low, ranging from roughly a quarter of third graders to just over a third of fifth graders reading at grade level. Math results are uneven: third and fifth graders show results in the mid-range of what might be considered approaching-typical for high-poverty schools, but fourth grade math proficiency is quite low. The fifth-grade science assessment shows roughly a third of students reaching proficiency. One anomaly in the data is a perfect math proficiency figure for sixth grade; because Samoset serves only through fifth grade, this appears to reflect a very small number of students tested outside the normal grade band, and a parent would want to ask the school directly about this rather than treating it as representative of school-wide math performance. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether results have been improving or declining. A parent considering this school may want to ask the administration directly about what academic intervention programs are in place and how student progress is tracked over time.

The surrounding neighborhood is a working residential area of eastern Bradenton, connected to a city that is growing steadily. Bradenton proper has a walkable, culturally active downtown along the Manatee River, with the Riverwalk park, the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, the Manatee Performing Arts Center, and the Village of the Arts district. Major employers in the area include the school district itself, Manatee Memorial Hospital, the Tropicana production facility, IMG Academy, and corporate headquarters for Bealls and First Watch. The city is served by Manatee County Area Transit, which publicly reported has made its fixed-route buses fare-free. Housing near the school is modestly priced relative to statewide values, and both home values and rents in the zip code have declined year-over-year, a contrast to rising national home prices.

At the district level, Manatee County voters renewed a dedicated property tax referendum in late 2024 that funds teacher salary supplements, extended instructional time, STEM and career programs, early literacy, athletics, and school safety. That renewed funding flows to all district schools, including Samoset. The district also recently rezoned elementary attendance boundaries to manage rapid enrollment growth, which means families should verify current boundary assignments with the district rather than assuming historical zones still apply. A new high school is under construction in Lakewood Ranch, with high school rezoning to follow when it opens, though that affects Samoset families only when their children eventually reach secondary grades. Weapon-detection technology has been deployed at Manatee high schools and selectively at middle schools, a publicly reported district-wide change to campus security.

No information on special programs, extracurricular offerings, staffing levels, attendance rates, or discipline practices at Samoset specifically was available. The comparison set for Manatee County consists of a single district, so placing Samoset's performance against peer schools within the county was not possible from the data provided.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 62% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 57% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 44 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 59% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 6100%

School 100% · District 61% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 52% · ▼ 25 pts below district

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

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 54% · ▼ 37 pts below district

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

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 54% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 52% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

This schoolMANATEE, 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-income26%Higher-income33%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income19%Higher-income11%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income43%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income42%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income19%Higher-income8%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income46%5 pp gap