The top reported proficiency rate is 71% in Science. The lowest is 67% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Emma Love Hardee Elementary
Emma Love Hardee Elementary sits on Susan Drive in Fernandina Beach, a barrier-island city on Amelia Island in Nassau County. It serves third through fifth grade as a regular public school within the Nassau County School District, making it a grades-three-to-five campus without kindergarten or early-primary years, and without a middle or high school graduation rate to report.
The school's academic results from Florida's most recent FAST assessments give a mostly solid picture. In reading and language arts, third graders scored well above what most Florida elementary schools would consider a strong baseline, while fourth-grade ELA proficiency dips noticeably and fifth grade sits in a middle range. Math tells a similar story: fifth graders post the highest rate of the three grades, third grade is strong, and fourth grade is the low point across both subjects. The fifth-grade science assessment result sits comfortably above what one might call average for a Florida elementary school. The fourth-grade dip across both math and ELA is the pattern a parent would most want to ask the school about directly. No trend data across multiple years was available, so it is not possible to say whether this represents an improvement or a sustained gap.
Because Nassau County has only one school district, the comparison set available carries too few members to produce a meaningful ranking, and no comparison index was calculated.
Nearly half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Hardee in a middle range on economic diversity for a Florida elementary school. The student population is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up a meaningful secondary share and Black students a smaller share. Data on students with IEPs or English learner status was not reported in the available records; parents with children who receive special education services or language support should ask the school directly about those programs.
Fernandina Beach itself shapes the context for families considering this school. The city is a historic island town with a 50-block National Register district of late-19th and early-20th-century architecture centered on Centre Street, surrounded by beach neighborhoods, gated golf communities, and an expanding ring of new construction. The employment base mixes paper manufacturing, a community hospital, the Port of Fernandina, and a tourism sector anchored by resort properties. Fort Clinch State Park at the island's northern tip limits how much new land can be developed there. Housing costs in the zip code are well above both Florida's statewide median and the national figure, and they have appreciated sharply over the past decade, though the most recent year-over-year data shows a modest softening. Rents have moved in the opposite direction, rising over the same period. The rent-to-income ratio sits at a level that many financial planners would flag as stretching a household budget. Families considering buying into this attendance zone are entering one of the pricier markets in northeast Florida.
At the district level, two recent developments are worth knowing. In late 2022 Nassau County voters approved a property tax millage increase that took effect in 2023, directed toward teacher and staff pay, arts, athletics, and school safety. This is an ongoing funding mechanism any household buying property in the district will carry. Separately, in 2024 the district settled a federal lawsuit stemming from its 2023 removal of roughly three dozen library books covering LGBTQ+ and race-related themes. Under that settlement, all 36 titles were returned to school shelves, and district officials acknowledged their appropriateness for students. Parents with strong views in either direction on library access and curriculum will want to factor this history into their picture of the district.
Program details specific to Hardee were not available in the data reviewed, so what enrichment, intervention, or specialty offerings exist beyond core instruction is a question for the school directly.
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