The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in Math. The lowest is 27% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy Charter
Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy Charter sits on Mercy Drive in Orlando's 32808 zip code, a residential area well northwest of downtown and the tourist corridor. It serves kindergarten through fifth grade as a charter school within the Orange County district, and its enrollment is quite small for a K-5 program. The student body is almost entirely Black, with a smaller Hispanic share and very few students of other backgrounds. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this squarely among high-poverty elementary schools. Data on English learner rates and special education (IEP) rates were not available in what we received.
On academics, the picture that emerges from the most recent Florida state assessments is one that parents should look into closely. The only results that were not suppressed due to small group size came from third grade, where reading proficiency was well below the midpoint and math proficiency was low as well, though somewhat less so. For fourth and fifth grade, results were suppressed across math, ELA, and science, likely because enrollment in individual grades is thin enough that the state withholds figures to protect student privacy. Relative to the other districts in Orange County, the school's overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile of that comparison set. Trend data across multiple years was not available, so there is no basis here to say whether performance has been moving in any direction. A parent would want to ask the school directly about its academic trajectory and what specific supports are in place for students who are reading or doing math below grade level.
Program information is limited in what was provided. The school publicly lists a Book Club and a Math Club as student activities. No information on specialized academic pathways, enrichment tracks, or formal partnerships with outside organizations appeared in the data. Graduation rate does not apply here, as the school ends at fifth grade.
The housing market around the school's zip code shows home values that are meaningfully below the Florida statewide median and well below national typical values, and values have declined year over year. Rents have also edged slightly downward. Relative to the broader Orlando housing market, this is among the more accessible areas by price, though affordability remains a stretch given current mortgage rates. The neighborhood is part of a city undergoing real investment, with Orlando's downtown core expanding through projects like Creative Village and large-scale additions near the convention and entertainment district, but that growth is centered some distance from the Mercy Drive area.
Orlando overall is a car-dependent city in most of its residential neighborhoods. The Mercy Drive corridor is not one of the city's walkable enclaves; those tend to be concentrated in areas like Thornton Park, College Park, and downtown proper. The city's LYNX bus system provides regional transit, and SunRail operates commuter rail connecting several points, but day-to-day access in this part of Orlando will typically require a vehicle.
The district brief for Orange County schools turned up no confirmed parent-relevant policy or program changes to report.
For a family considering this school, the core questions are around academic fit and support capacity. The available proficiency data is limited in scope due to suppression, but what is visible places the school below typical elementary benchmarks in Orange County. The school is very small, predominantly Black, and serves a high-poverty population, which shapes both the peer environment and the resource context. Parents who want to understand how the school approaches literacy and numeracy instruction, what interventions exist for students who are behind, and how it has performed in prior years would need to go directly to the school or the Orange County district, as that fuller picture is not in the data available here.
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