The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in Science. The lowest is 55% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on John Young Elementary
John Young Elementary sits on Marsfield Avenue in Orlando's 32837 zip code, a residential stretch of Southwest Orlando that sits well removed from the tourist corridor despite sharing a quadrant of the city with it. The surrounding area is suburban in character, built out with single-family homes and the kind of commercial infrastructure that serves families rather than visitors. Home values in the zip code run above the Florida state median and meaningfully above the national median, and while they have softened slightly over the past year, this is not a bargain-entry market. Renting here consumes a material share of a typical household's income, and carrying a mortgage requires a substantial monthly commitment. Families weighing whether to buy near this school should factor those numbers carefully.
The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade, so there is no graduation rate to report and no high school program data applies here. State testing runs from third grade upward, and Florida administers the FAST assessments in reading and math, plus a statewide science assessment in fifth grade.
On the most recent FAST results, John Young's math proficiency is fairly consistent across tested grades, sitting in the mid-fifties range at each level. Reading follows a similar pattern in third and fifth grade, with a modest dip in fourth grade. These results place the school above the midpoint among districts in Orange County on an overall proficiency index, which is a reasonable position to hold. Fifth-grade science is the clear bright spot, coming in noticeably higher than the reading and math numbers, which a parent may want to ask the school about when visiting. The school's overall academic position is neither a standout nor a concern, and it compares reasonably well within the county peer set. Trend data across years was not available, so whether performance has been moving up, holding steady, or slipping cannot be determined from what was provided.
The student body is diverse. Hispanic students make up a large majority of the enrollment, with White, Asian, and Black students each representing meaningful shares. A substantial portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which means the school is navigating real economic heterogeneity in its classrooms. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs was not included in what was provided, so those dimensions of the school's support profile are a gap worth asking about directly. Discipline data and chronic absenteeism figures were similarly absent.
Enrollment is moderate for a PK-5 school in an urban district. The prekindergarten program adds a notable number of young children to the mix, which tells families that the school maintains an early-childhood presence even before kindergarten.
The parent district is Orange County Public Schools, one of Florida's largest. A search for recent district-level strategic changes or policy shifts turned up nothing that could be confirmed, so that piece of context was left out rather than guessed at. Families interested in district-level decisions around curriculum, staffing, or program changes should check directly with OCPS.
Orlando itself is a city with genuine geographic variation. The school's southwest location puts it in a part of the city that functions mostly as a residential community, distinct from the downtown cultural core and from the tourist zones. The regional economy is anchored by a wide range of major employers in tourism, healthcare, aerospace, and higher education, which gives the area a diversified employment base that extends well beyond theme parks. The city is in an active growth phase, with major investment visible across multiple development projects, and housing costs in many parts of the metro reflect that trajectory.
For a family zoned to John Young, this is a school with a mixed but acceptable academic profile, a diverse and economically varied student body, and a suburban Southwest Orlando setting in a housing market that demands real financial planning. The science results at the upper elementary level and the general position within the county peer set are things to build on. The gaps in support-services data are real and worth a conversation with the school before enrolling.
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