The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Math. The lowest is 30% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Highland Elementary School
Highland Elementary sits on Highland Avenue in Lake Worth Beach, a compact, arts-forward city in Palm Beach County with a walkable historic downtown, a diverse population, and a community character shaped by independent businesses, murals, and long-rooted residents rather than chain retail. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade, making it a neighborhood anchor for the early years of a child's academic life.
The student body is majority Hispanic, with Black students making up roughly a fifth of enrollment and smaller shares of white and other groups. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the surrounding neighborhood. The school is large for an elementary, with enrollment spread across pre-K through fifth grade. Data on English learner status and students with IEPs was not available in what we received.
On Florida's FAST assessments, the academic picture is mixed and warrants honest attention. In math, results vary across tested grades, with fourth grade coming in meaningfully stronger than third or fifth. ELA proficiency is lower across the board, with third grade reading results particularly concerning -- well under half of students tested at grade level, and fifth grade not far above that. Fifth-grade science results, measured by the Florida Statewide Science Assessment, come in at roughly the same level as ELA. Placed against other districts in Palm Beach County, Highland's overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile of that comparison set. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible from this data to say whether results are improving, stable, or declining. A parent would reasonably want to ask the school directly about its instructional approach, intervention supports, and what trajectory looks like for incoming students.
The sixth-grade math result in the data is suppressed, which typically means the group tested was too small to report publicly -- an uncommon situation for an elementary that officially serves through fifth grade, and one worth clarifying with the school or district.
Information on specific programs, enrichment offerings, staffing levels, chronic absenteeism, and discipline was not available in what we received.
The surrounding housing market gives useful context. Home values in the zip code are roughly in line with the Florida state median and slightly above the national median, though they have edged down modestly year over year. Rents have moved slightly upward. By affordability measures, rental costs consume a substantial share of a typical household's income at current rates, which is consistent with the broader housing pressure Lake Worth Beach is trying to address through its Community Redevelopment Agency. The CRA is actively converting vacant lots into affordable and attainable housing, and a planned mixed-use development along Lake Avenue is expected to bring a significant number of residential units downtown, a project that has attracted some local controversy. Families weighing the neighborhood as a long-term home should be aware the area is in active transition.
Palm Beach State College's Lake Worth campus anchors institutional employment in the area, though it sits several miles inland from downtown. The city's civic infrastructure -- a public library, Bryant Park along the lagoon, the Lake Worth Playhouse, and a Tri-Rail commuter station near I-95 -- gives families relatively good access to cultural and transit resources for a city of this size.
The district brief for Palm Beach County schools did not surface parent-relevant changes during our research, so district-level priorities and initiatives were left out rather than guessed at.
Highland Elementary fits a family that is already rooted in the Lake Worth Beach neighborhood or values its accessible, culturally textured character and is prepared to engage closely with the school around literacy and math support. The academic data is not yet at a level where a parent can rely on grade-level proficiency without staying actively involved -- and the school may have supports in place that the available data does not capture.
See more original research from School Decision →