Mater Academy Narcoossee, Orlando FL

Original Research by School Decision on Mater Academy Narcoossee

Mater Academy Narcoossee is a public charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade, located near the 32827 zip code in the Lake Nona corridor of southeast Orlando, an area that sits distinctly apart from both the tourist southwest and the older urban core. It operates under the Orange County Public Schools umbrella as its authorizing district, though as a charter it functions with its own governance structure. The school draws from what has become one of the fastest-growing residential corridors in Central Florida, and the surrounding housing market reflects that: home values in this zip code run well above both the Florida state median and the national median, and monthly rents sit at a level that puts the area firmly in higher-cost territory for the region, even as both prices have edged slightly downward year over year.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with white students making up a meaningful secondary share, and smaller numbers of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. Roughly a third of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this community in a moderate economic range relative to many urban charter schools. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in the records provided.

On Florida's FAST assessments, the school's results are genuinely mixed, and the pattern is worth looking at grade by grade rather than as a single number. In third-grade math, proficiency is strong, among the stronger results in the data set. Seventh-grade math also performs well. Where the school shows a softer spot is in fifth- and eighth-grade math, which both sit closer to the state midpoint, and in eighth-grade science, where proficiency falls to a low level that a parent would reasonably want to ask the school about directly. ELA results are more consistent across grades, generally landing in the mid-range, with sixth and seventh grade performing somewhat better than fifth. Relative to the two other comparable districts in Orange County on the proficiency index measure, Mater Academy Narcoossee sits in the top quartile, which is a meaningful position. Still, the grade-to-grade swings, particularly the dip in fifth grade across both math and ELA before a partial recovery in sixth and seventh, suggest it may be worth understanding how the school handles the upper elementary transition.

Science proficiency at the eighth-grade level is the most notable gap in the data and stands out enough that a parent of a middle schooler should ask the school specifically what is happening in that program.

No program offerings were listed in the data provided, so it is not possible to characterize extracurricular options, electives, or any specialized academic pathways. A graduation rate is not applicable here, since the school ends at eighth grade. Multi-year trend data was also not available, so there is no way from this data to say whether results are improving, declining, or holding steady.

The school sits in the Lake Nona area, which is part of a broader southeast Orlando growth story. Publicly reported coverage describes the Orlando region as being in a sustained development phase, with new housing, commercial investment, and infrastructure expansion actively reshaping corridors like this one. Families choosing this area are generally buying into a newer, suburban, amenity-oriented community rather than an older urban neighborhood. The drive to major employment centers in healthcare, aerospace, and the broader Orlando economy is reasonable from this location.

For a family weighing options in the 32827 area, this school offers solid early elementary math outcomes and mid-range ELA performance, with a middle school math and science picture that warrants direct conversation with school leadership. It is a charter environment within a large district, which means more autonomy in culture and operations than a traditional neighborhood school. Whether that structure fits a given family depends on what they are looking for in terms of school culture, which this data does not fully illuminate.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 384%

School 84% · District 63% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 478%

School 78% · District 64% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 58% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 60% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 781%

School 81% · District 39% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 63% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 59% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 59% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 58% · ▼ 3 pts below district

even with state median · even with county median

Grade 672%

School 72% · District 59% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 774%

School 74% · District 55% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 866%

School 66% · District 53% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 62% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 52% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

This schoolORANGE, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income54%Higher-income70%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income61%Higher-income72%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income41%Higher-income61%21 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income76%Higher-income69%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income69%Higher-income78%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income51%Higher-income73%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income81%Higher-income86%5 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income74%Higher-income83%9 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income45%Higher-income68%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income66%Higher-income64%2 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income74%Higher-income86%12 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income61%Higher-income58%3 pp gap