Countryside Montessori Academy, Land O Lakes FL

Original Research by School Decision on Countryside Montessori Academy

Countryside Montessori Academy is a public charter school serving grades one through eight in Land O' Lakes, a fast-growing, car-dependent suburban community in northern Pasco County, roughly a short drive from Tampa. The school occupies a particular niche: it is one of the few Montessori-model options within the public school system in this part of Florida, meaning families are actively choosing a pedagogy rather than enrolling by default assignment.

The school is small relative to the range of elementary and middle schools in its region, with enrollment spread across eight grade levels in a way that produces fairly intimate class sizes, particularly in the upper grades. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with white students making up a plurality, a substantial Hispanic share, and meaningful representation from Asian and multiracial families. One of the most distinctive demographic features is the extremely low share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, which sits far below what you would typically see in a public school, charter or otherwise. That reflects both the self-selection process of a choice school and the broader economic character of the surrounding community. Data on students with IEPs and English learners was not available, so families with those needs should ask the school directly about its support structures and capacity.

On Florida's FAST assessments, the academic picture is genuinely strong across much of the grade band but has one soft spot worth noting. In ELA, results are consistently solid from third through eighth grade, building to quite high proficiency in the middle school years. Math follows a similar pattern with one exception: fifth grade math proficiency came in noticeably lower than every other grade level, sitting well below both the school's own third-grade and sixth-grade math results. Whether that reflects a particular cohort, a curricular transition point in the Montessori sequence, or something else is not clear from this data alone, and a parent may want to ask the school how it tracks and addresses math progress specifically in the upper elementary years. Eighth grade math proficiency, by contrast, is among the highest of any grade in any subject at this school. Science results at the two tested points, fifth and eighth grade, were reported and fell in a reasonable range, with eighth grade performing stronger than fifth.

Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether the school's results have been improving, declining, or holding steady over time.

Because Countryside Montessori is a single school within a larger county, the comparison framework found only one district in Pasco County, making a meaningful peer comparison on proficiency, graduation rates, or chronic absenteeism not possible from that framework. No graduation rate applies here since the school does not serve high school grades. Chronic absenteeism data was absent from the data provided.

The community context matters for anyone considering a move. Land O' Lakes is publicly reported as one of the faster-growing areas in Florida, with large master-planned communities underway and a major life sciences development anchored by Moffitt Cancer Center now opening its first phase. Home values in the zip code sit modestly above the Florida statewide benchmark and well above the national benchmark, with modest year-over-year softening. Rents have edged up slightly year over year. The area is almost entirely car-dependent. At the district level, Pasco County voters approved a property-tax referendum in 2022 to fund non-administrative staff salaries, which has publicly been credited with a sharp drop in teacher vacancies; a renewal of that levy is headed to the November 2026 ballot, meaning a continued property-tax cost for homeowners if it passes.

Program details beyond the Montessori framework were not available in the data provided. Families considering this school primarily for its pedagogical model should visit and ask specifically how the Montessori approach is implemented through middle school, since that transition is less standardized across Montessori schools than the early childhood model tends to be.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 58% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 49% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 52% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 57% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 770%

School 70% · District 48% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 891%

School 91% · District 61% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 369%

School 69% · District 57% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 54% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 578%

School 78% · District 53% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 679%

School 79% · District 59% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 784%

School 84% · District 57% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 885%

School 85% · District 52% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Science

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 49% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 47% · ▲ 23 pts above district

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

This schoolPASCO, 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.