The top reported proficiency rate is 62% in Science. The lowest is 47% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Hungerford Elementary
Hungerford Elementary sits on Ruffel Street in Eatonville, just off the Kennedy Boulevard corridor that serves as the town's civic and commercial spine. The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and draws almost entirely from the surrounding neighborhood. Eatonville itself carries considerable historical weight: publicly reported sources describe it as the oldest Black-incorporated municipality in the United States, founded by formerly enslaved African Americans, and it retains a distinct cultural identity tied to that history and to author Zora Neale Hurston, who grew up there. The town is small, predominantly residential, economically strained, and sits between the more affluent communities of Maitland and Winter Park just north of Orlando.
The school's student body is overwhelmingly Black, with a smaller Hispanic presence and very few students of other backgrounds. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the surrounding community. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs was not available in the records reviewed.
Florida's FAST assessments are the primary academic measure here, and results vary meaningfully by grade and subject. Fourth grade stands out: reading and math proficiency rates at that grade are both solidly above the midpoint, a real bright spot in an otherwise uneven picture. Third and fifth grade results are weaker across both subjects, and fifth-grade reading in particular is on the lower end. On the fifth-grade science assessment, results are comparably strong to fourth grade, which is worth noting. Taken together across all tested grades and subjects, Hungerford's overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Orange County, the comparison set used here. That is a gap parents will want to ask the school about directly, particularly around what targeted support looks like for students who are not yet proficient and what the school has identified as driving the grade-to-grade swings. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether results are improving, holding, or declining.
Because Hungerford serves only pre-K through fifth grade, graduation rate and secondary course access metrics do not apply.
The school's physical setting is woven into the civic fabric of a very compact town. The Denton Johnson Community Center is nearby on the same street. Town parks, a community pool at Elizabeth Park, and Lynx bus service along Kennedy Boulevard are all accessible without a long trip. The neighborhood is walkable enough for daily errands in the central corridor, though residential streets to the north and south depend more on cars.
Housing near the school runs significantly above the Florida statewide median and well above the national median, a reflection of the broader Orlando metro market more than Eatonville's own economic character. Rents have ticked up slightly year over year while home values have slipped modestly. The rent-to-income burden for this area is meaningful, and estimated monthly mortgage costs at current rates are substantial. Families weighing a move here should know the market is not a bargain relative to state or national benchmarks.
The development context around Hungerford is active and consequential. Publicly reported sources indicate the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Eatonville one of the most endangered historic sites in the country as recently as 2024, citing development pressure that could displace residents. The Orange County School Board approved transferring the broader Hungerford property to Dr. Phillips Charities in late 2025, a plan the town mayor backed but the Town Council opposed. The intended vision includes affordable and workforce housing, an early learning center, healthcare facilities, a new town hall, and a history museum, with milestones tied to phased funding forgiveness. A separate workforce housing development approved earlier is also moving forward nearby. None of this directly determines what happens inside the school building day to day, but the land-use question around the Hungerford property is something families in this community are tracking closely.
District-level information on Orange County's strategic priorities and any recent policy changes was not confirmed in the research conducted, so that context was left out rather than guessed at.
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