The top reported proficiency rate is 66% in Math. The lowest is 61% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Dayspring Jazz
Dayspring Jazz is a charter elementary school in Port Richey, serving kindergarten through fifth grade within the Pasco County school district. It sits along Jasmine Boulevard in a part of Port Richey that is car-dependent and residential, not far from the U.S. 19 commercial corridor that defines most of the city's public life. The school is small enough that each grade has roughly one classroom's worth of students, giving it an intimate scale compared to many traditional elementary schools in the county.
The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up a meaningful portion of enrollment and smaller numbers of students from other backgrounds. A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning a substantial share of families are working with modest household incomes. Data on students with IEPs and English learners was not reported, so parents with children who may need those services would want to ask the school directly about capacity and staffing in those areas.
On Florida's FAST assessments, the academic picture at Dayspring Jazz is uneven in ways worth understanding. Third-grade results are the school's strongest: the clear majority of third-graders tested at proficient or above in both math and reading, which is a genuine strength for a school serving a relatively high-poverty population. Fourth-grade math holds up well, with a solid majority proficient, though fourth-grade reading drops noticeably. By fifth grade, proficiency in both math and ELA falls well below half of tested students, and the fifth-grade science result lands somewhere in the middle range. That gap between the early grades and fifth grade is real, and a parent whose child would be entering the upper elementary years should ask the school what it looks like and how it is being addressed. Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether this pattern is improving, holding, or widening.
Because Dayspring Jazz serves only grades K through 5, there is no graduation rate to report, as that metric does not apply to elementary schools. The neighbor comparison set for Pasco County schools had too few districts to generate a meaningful position for this school, so no county-relative ranking is available.
For families considering the area, the Port Richey housing market is notably more affordable than the Florida statewide average, with home values well below the state median and running close to flat year over year. Rents are modest by Florida standards and have barely moved recently. The rent-to-income ratio suggests housing costs here are not especially burdensome relative to local incomes, which can be a meaningful factor for families weighing school choice against cost of living. The city itself is low-key and waterfront-oriented: Gulf-access parks, kayak launches along the Cotee River, Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park, and casual dining along U.S. 19 define daily life more than any walkable downtown, which is actually in adjacent New Port Richey rather than Port Richey proper.
At the district level, Pasco County voters approved a property-tax referendum in 2022 to raise teacher and staff pay, and publicly reported accounts indicate that teacher vacancies across the district dropped sharply as a result. A renewal of that levy is heading to voters in late 2026, so homeowners should expect that cost to continue if it passes. A separate sales-tax measure, renewed in 2022 as well, directs capital funding toward school construction and renovation across the county, which matters most in the fast-growing eastern parts of Pasco. Dayspring Jazz's location in the western, slower-growing part of the county means the rezoning pressures hitting Wesley Chapel are unlikely to affect Port Richey families directly.
As a charter school, Dayspring Jazz operates with some independence from the traditional district structure, and families drawn to smaller enrollment and the charter model will find that here. The academic results suggest real promise in the early grades and a transition to weaker outcomes by fifth grade, a pattern worth probing further before enrolling a child who will spend multiple years at the school.
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