The top reported proficiency rate is 70% in Science. The lowest is 55% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Northwood Elementary School
Northwood Elementary sits on Fourth Avenue in Crestview, a growing small city in Okaloosa County that serves as the county seat and the commercial hub of Florida's western panhandle. It is a conventional public elementary school enrolling prekindergarten through fifth grade, operating within the Okaloosa County School District, which has publicly reported one of the strongest sustained academic track records among Florida's districts.
The school is large for an elementary. Its student body is racially and ethnically mixed: a majority of students are white, with meaningful shares of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students, and smaller representations of other groups. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this a high-need population by that measure. Data on English learner rates and special education identification rates were not available in the records reviewed.
On the Florida FAST assessments for the most recent school year, Northwood's third graders showed solid math proficiency, with fifth graders performing similarly and fourth grade coming in somewhat lower. In ELA, the picture is more modest across the board: third and fourth grade proficiency rates sit below the math numbers, with fifth grade performing better than the earlier grades but still trailing the school's own science results. Speaking of science, fifth graders showed the strongest proficiency of any tested subject at this school, which is a bright spot. To put this plainly: math and science results are more encouraging than ELA, and the middle elementary grades in reading are where parents may want to ask the school directly about supports and interventions in place. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to assess whether proficiency is moving in any direction.
The comparison framework for this school against other Okaloosa County districts had only one district in the set, so no meaningful peer positioning on proficiency, chronic absenteeism, or graduation rate is available through that lens. Graduation rate is not applicable here, as the school serves only elementary grades.
The district context matters for families considering this school. Okaloosa County School District has publicly reported earning a top state grade every year since Florida began issuing school grades, one of only three districts statewide to do so. That district-level consistency does not automatically translate to every campus, but it does reflect the system's overall investment in academic performance. The district also passed a half-cent sales tax dedicated to capital improvements, covering classroom renovations, technology upgrades, safety infrastructure like single-point entry systems, and a school bus replacement program, all subject to a citizens' oversight committee. For families moving to Crestview specifically, a new K-8 school called Pineview is under construction nearby, publicly reported to be opening in fall 2026 to relieve overcrowding that has pushed nearly every Okaloosa school to or past capacity. That development is worth tracking, as it could affect attendance boundaries and enrollment dynamics at Northwood.
Crestview itself is one of the fastest-growing cities in Okaloosa County, drawing residents with relative affordability and proximity to Eglin Air Force Base. The local economy leans heavily on defense, aerospace, healthcare, and manufacturing. Housing near this zip code sits well below both the state and national median home value, and the rent-to-income ratio is in a manageable range by current national standards. The downtown has a genuine small-town feel, with brick storefronts, local shops, and a mid-century character that sets it apart from the beach communities to the south. A downtown revitalization project is actively upgrading sidewalks and pedestrian infrastructure, though construction has temporarily disrupted foot traffic for local businesses. Day-to-day life is car-dependent outside the downtown grid. Twin Hills Park offers recreational amenities including fishing lakes and a children's water park, and Blackwater River State Forest, the largest state forest in Florida, is just northwest of town.
For families weighing Northwood, the picture is a school with genuine strengths in math and science, a mixed but real ELA performance record, and a district with both the funding tools and the track record to support improvement. The ELA results in the middle grades are worth a direct conversation with school leadership.
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