The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in Math. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune Elementary
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary sits on the mainland in Riviera Beach, a city in Palm Beach County shaped by its industrial waterfront, the Port of Palm Beach, and the quieter barrier-island community of Singer Island just across the Intracoastal. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the Palm Beach district.
The student body is predominantly Black, with small numbers of Hispanic and white students and very small counts of other groups. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which tells you this is a school where concentrated economic hardship is the baseline condition, not an exception. Data on English learner and special education populations were not reported in what was provided.
On Florida's FAST assessments, proficiency rates across the tested grades in math, ELA, and fifth-grade science all fall in a range that, when averaged across subjects and grades, lands in the bottom quartile relative to the other districts in Palm Beach County. That framing reflects the comparison set available, which covers the districts within the county. In plain terms: fewer than half of students in any tested grade scored proficient in either math or ELA, and the science result follows a similar pattern. These are the reported state figures, not an interpretation, and a parent who wants to understand what the school is doing to move those numbers should ask directly. The data here does not include trend information, so it is not possible to say whether performance is improving, holding steady, or declining.
Because the school serves only pre-K through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate, and there are no AP, dual-enrollment, or career-pathway metrics. Those measures do not apply to this grade band. Program details were not available in what was provided, so specifics about enrichment, intervention, or extended learning offerings are a gap worth raising with the school.
No discipline, attendance, or chronic absenteeism data came through, which leaves out pieces of the daily environment picture that many parents want. Publicly reported information about the Palm Beach district's strategic priorities was not available either, so broader district direction could not be placed in context here.
The surrounding neighborhood is primarily residential and industrial, a mainland Riviera Beach setting rather than the Singer Island resort corridor. The city is mid-sized, with a maritime economy anchored by the Port of Palm Beach and a commercial corridor along Broadway. Riviera Beach is in the middle of a long-running effort to redevelop its marina waterfront into a mixed-use district, and new housing construction along the Broadway corridor is underway, including workforce and market-rate apartment projects that broke ground recently. That development context means the neighborhood around the school may see gradual change, though the pace has historically been slow and a federal inquiry in early 2026 introduced uncertainty about the timeline.
Housing in the zip code is priced above the Florida state median and well above the national median, with rents running high enough that rent-to-income ratios are steep by any standard measure. For a family considering a move, the local housing market is not inexpensive relative to the region, even though the school itself draws from an economically stressed population.
The school is named for Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, the educator and civil rights leader who founded what became Bethune-Cookman University, a name that carries real historical weight in Florida's Black educational history.
What this school offers is a neighborhood pre-K through five pathway in a community with a distinctive waterfront and industrial identity. The academic proficiency data is below where most families would hope, and a parent considering enrollment would benefit from a direct conversation with staff about intervention supports, classroom culture, and what the school is doing to close gaps for its students.
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