The top reported proficiency rate is 51% in Math. The lowest is 30% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Hola! Elementary @ Msa
HOLA! Elementary @ MSA is a charter school in Palmetto, Florida, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It sits on Haben Boulevard in a city that is moving fast — waterfront master-planned communities under construction, industrial tradeport expansion, sewer infrastructure upgrades to handle population growth — while its older downtown along the Manatee River holds Carnegie-era buildings, boutiques, and a publicly reported push to keep what locals call "Old Florida" character intact. The school is part of the Manatee County school system and draws from that context, though as a charter it operates with its own governance.
The student body is mid-sized for an elementary school. Hispanic students make up the clear majority of enrollment, with white students the next largest group and smaller shares of Black, multiracial, and other students. Close to half of all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this school in a mixed socioeconomic setting rather than a uniformly affluent or uniformly low-income one. Data on English learner status and students with individualized education programs was not available in the records reviewed.
State assessment results from Florida's FAST exam give the clearest academic picture. In third grade, roughly half of students tested proficient in both math and ELA — a middling result against the broader state distribution. Fourth-grade math proficiency climbs somewhat above that, while fourth-grade ELA falls below it. By fifth grade, math proficiency drops to the lower range and ELA sits in a similar spot. Fifth-grade science, measured by Florida's Statewide Science Assessment, comes in low, with fewer than a third of students reaching proficiency. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from these records whether the school is improving, holding steady, or declining. A parent who wants to understand trajectory would do well to ask the school directly.
The comparison fact-set for Manatee County contains only one district, which means no peer-district comparison could be computed; the data explicitly flags this. What the FAST numbers do show is a school where academic proficiency, across subjects and grades, sits below the mid-range for Florida and where science in particular stands out as a soft spot. This is factual, not a verdict; it is the kind of thing a family weighing this school should explore with staff, particularly around what supports exist for students who are not yet proficient.
No program information was provided in the data. The school's name and the "MSA" designation suggest an affiliation worth asking about directly — what that pairing means for curriculum, language instruction, or program focus was not available here.
For families thinking about housing near the school, the Palmetto zip code has seen home values drift down modestly over the past year, running slightly below the Florida state benchmark and close to the national midpoint. Rents have also edged down slightly. The rent-to-income ratio lands on the higher end, and the estimated monthly carrying cost on a median-priced home is substantial under current mortgage rates, a real constraint for many buyers in this market. Palmetto is car-dependent in most of its geography, though the historic downtown and its county library branch — which includes a makerspace and seed library — are within a compact, more walkable core.
At the district level, Manatee County voters renewed a one-mill property tax referendum in late 2024, publicly reported to fund teacher salary supplements, an extended school day, STEM and career programs, early literacy, athletics, and school safety. That renewal matters for what programs charter schools affiliated with the district may access. The district also recently rezoned elementary and middle school attendance zones due to rapid enrollment growth, a change that does not directly alter a charter school's enrollment process but signals how fast the county is adding students. A new high school in Lakewood Ranch is under construction and set to open in 2027.
Chronic absenteeism data was not available for this school.
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