The top reported proficiency rate is 59% in English language arts. The lowest is 53% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Stuart Middle School
Stuart Middle School sits on a standalone campus on SE Georgia Avenue in Stuart, the county seat of Martin County on Florida's Treasure Coast. The school serves grades six through eight as a conventional public school within the Martin County School District, drawing students from a community that mixes historic coastal charm with active residential growth. Stuart reads as a small coastal city built around the St. Lucie River, with a walkable downtown of boutiques, cafes, and a boardwalk Riverwalk, but the school itself is on a separated campus away from that downtown core, as is typical for schools in the district.
On the most recent Florida state assessments, sixth-grade results are the strongest in the building. A solid majority of sixth graders tested proficient in both math and reading, a genuinely encouraging entry point for incoming students. By seventh grade those rates drop meaningfully in both subjects, and eighth-grade math proficiency falls to a noticeably lower level, roughly in the bottom third of what one would hope to see statewide. Eighth-grade reading and science results land around the midpoint. The pattern across grades, particularly the steeper drop in math as students move through the school, is something parents would reasonably want to discuss with the school directly. Trend data across prior years was not available in the dataset, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability.
About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that places this school in a mixed socioeconomic context. The school's racial and ethnic makeup is majority white, with Hispanic students the next largest group and Black students and students of other backgrounds making up the remainder. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported in the data available, so those dimensions of the school's support environment cannot be characterized here.
At the district level, Martin County publicly reported regaining a top state accountability rating from the Florida Department of Education for the 2024-2025 school year, its first at that level in some years, with all district schools earning at least a satisfactory grade. That context matters for families: Stuart Middle sits within a district that has been on an upward trajectory by Florida's own accountability measures, even as middle school results at this campus show meaningful room to grow, particularly in the upper grades.
Two voter-approved funding measures have shaped what the district can offer. A property tax millage reauthorized in 2022 funds teacher pay, school safety, mental health support, and academic programming including AVID college-readiness work; voters were asked in late 2024 to extend that funding again past its expiration. A separate sales tax approved earlier paid for school renovations and security improvements across the district. Both measures reflect community willingness to invest in public schools, and the specific services they fund, counselors, safety staff, and retention-linked teacher pay, are ones families typically care about at the middle school level.
The housing market around Stuart has seen moderate price softening after years of rapid appreciation, and home values in the immediate area now sit below the statewide median. Rents, by contrast, consume a substantial share of a typical renter's income, and the rent-to-own cost gap is relatively narrow. New development is actively underway, including a large mixed-use project on Kanner Highway that uses Florida's Live Local Act to bring apartments with an affordable component. Publicly reported sources describe the area as drawing migrants from the Northeast and growing steadily, which means the school's enrollment context may shift in coming years.
Graduation rates do not apply to Stuart Middle, which serves only sixth through eighth grade. No course access or program offerings data was included in the data available, so extracurriculars and elective pathways cannot be described. Discipline and attendance data were also absent. Parents looking closely at this school would benefit from asking the school directly about its eighth-grade math intervention approach, its support services for students with disabilities or emerging English skills, and what academic supports bridge the gap between sixth-grade entry performance and eighth-grade exit results.
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