Braden River Elementary School, Bradenton FL

Original Research by School Decision on Braden River Elementary School

Braden River Elementary sits on River Club Boulevard in the 34202 zip code, one of the more affluent pockets of eastern Bradenton near Lakewood Ranch. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public elementary in the Manatee County School District.

The academic picture is mixed and worth reading carefully by grade. Third-grade math stands out as a genuine strength, with a large majority of students scoring proficient on Florida's FAST assessment. Fifth-grade science comes in solidly above the mid-range. Reading and language arts results across third, fourth, and fifth grades cluster in the low-to-mid sixties, meaning roughly a third to two-fifths of students are not yet reaching proficiency in ELA. Fourth-grade math drops noticeably from the strong third-grade number before recovering somewhat in fifth grade. The sixth-grade math result reflects only a small number of students taking an advanced course and should not be read as a schoolwide benchmark. A parent whose child is approaching fourth grade and needs strong math support may want to ask the school directly about how it addresses that dip. Trend data across years was not available, so there is no way from this data alone to tell whether these results are improving, holding, or declining.

About two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a moderate share that reflects the mix of working- and middle-class families in the surrounding area alongside the higher-income subdivisions nearby. The school is majority white, with a substantial Hispanic enrollment and smaller shares of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not reported, so families with children in those populations will want to ask the school directly about support services.

The school is part of a district that voters recently chose to sustain with a renewed property-tax referendum. Publicly reported, that renewal keeps in place supplemental teacher pay, an extended instructional day, STEM and career-technical programs, early literacy supports, and school safety funding. For an elementary family, the early literacy piece is relevant given the reading proficiency picture. The district has also installed AI-based weapon detection at high schools and is expanding security to after-school events, a shift that shapes the environment children will enter as they move through the system.

One material change affecting families in this zip code: Manatee County redrew its elementary and middle school attendance zones in response to rapid district-wide growth. Some students in this area may have been reassigned, so it is worth confirming current zone assignments before making any housing decision around this school. Construction on the district's eighth high school in nearby Lakewood Ranch is underway, with new high school zones to follow when it opens in the 2027-2028 school year.

The housing market around this school is expensive by Florida and national standards. Home values in the 34202 zip code sit well above the Florida median and are substantially above the national median. They have pulled back over the past year, and rents have edged down slightly, but the mortgage-to-rent gap here is narrow, meaning buying and renting are roughly comparable in monthly cost. Buying into this attendance zone is a meaningful financial commitment.

Bradenton itself is the Manatee County seat, with a compact downtown along the Manatee River that includes a library, performing arts center, science museum, and the walkable Riverwalk park. The broader city runs along auto-oriented commercial corridors. Major employers include the school district, Tropicana, Bealls, and the IMG sports academy. The metro area is among the faster-growing in the country for new housing, and the district's rezoning is a direct consequence of that growth.

Civil rights data was not available in the data provided. Program offerings beyond what the district referendum funds were not listed for this school specifically. Chronic absenteeism and staffing data were also absent.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 383%

School 83% · District 62% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 57%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 59% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above 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 362%

School 62% · District 52% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 54% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 54% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 52% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above 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-income51%Higher-income73%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income60%Higher-income70%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income67%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income78%Higher-income88%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income52%Higher-income64%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income60%Higher-income63%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap