The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in English language arts. The lowest is 38% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Maximo Elementary School
Maximo Elementary is a regular public school in the Pinellas County Schools district, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the southern reaches of St. Petersburg. The school sits in a part of the city that is residential and working-class, distinct from the high-traffic downtown core a few miles to the north. The enrollment is small relative to the grade band it covers, and the student body is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of white, multiracial, and Hispanic students. The vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this a school that serves a high-need population by that economic measure. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in the information provided.
On the Florida state assessments, Maximo's results across tested grades tell a consistent story: reading and math proficiency rates are below the midpoint in most grades, and the pattern holds in fifth-grade science as well. Third-grade ELA is the relative bright spot, sitting closer to the midpoint of reported results, while math and upper-elementary ELA scores are noticeably lower. A parent considering these numbers should also know that multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible from this data alone to say whether results have been moving up or down. The district recently earned a top state grade for the first time in its history, publicly attributed in part to a custom early-literacy curriculum grounded in the science of reading, now extending into grades K through five. Whether that curriculum shift has yet translated into measurable gains at Maximo specifically is worth asking the school directly.
One structural note: Pinellas County voters recently approved a renewal and expansion of the local-option school property tax, doubling the rate for a multi-year period. Those funds are publicly reported to support teacher and staff bonuses and programs including reading, music, art, and technology. For families weighing a home purchase in the area, that tax is a real carrying cost to price in, and for families thinking about program stability at a school like Maximo, it represents a district-level commitment to staffing and programming that goes beyond the base budget.
Program-specific details for Maximo were not available in the data provided, so the breadth of enrichment, after-school offerings, or any specialized instructional approaches at the school itself are gaps a parent would want to explore with the front office.
The broader St. Petersburg housing market surrounding the school has seen home values drift downward over the past year, with the local zip code sitting below the statewide benchmark. Rents have been essentially flat. St. Petersburg as a whole is in an active growth and development phase, with substantial construction concentrated downtown and spreading outward, a walkable urban core anchored by employers like Raymond James and a large health-care sector, and a civic infrastructure that includes waterfront parks, public transit including a bus rapid transit line, and a recently renovated main library. The neighborhood around Maximo itself is quieter and more residential than those areas, and families looking at this school are typically rooted in the southern part of the city rather than the dense downtown corridor.
Civil rights outcome data was not available in the information provided. Discipline data, chronic absenteeism, and attendance figures were also absent, leaving meaningful gaps in the picture of how the school environment functions day to day. For families trying to understand student supports, school climate, and how the school serves students with disabilities or language needs, those are questions worth raising directly.
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