The top reported proficiency rate is 67% in Science. The lowest is 58% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Sawgrass Lake Elementary School
Sawgrass Lake Elementary sits in the northern St. Petersburg part of Pinellas County, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the Pinellas district. The school draws a racially and economically diverse student body: white students make up the largest share, followed by Hispanic and Black students, with smaller Asian and multiracial populations. A substantial majority of enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which means the school operates in a context where economic need is the norm rather than the exception. IEP and English-learner rates were not available in the data provided.
On Florida's FAST assessments, the picture is mixed across grades. Third-grade math results are comparatively strong, with most students at the proficient level, and fifth-grade math and ELA land in a similar range. Fifth-grade science results are in that same band as well. The softer spot is fourth grade, where ELA proficiency drops noticeably and math follows a similar pattern, with fewer than three in five students reaching the bar. That fourth-grade dip across both subjects is worth asking the school about directly, whether it reflects a specific cohort, staffing, or instructional factors. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible from this data to say whether results are improving, flat, or declining.
Pinellas County Schools provides relevant context here. The district publicly reported earning an "A" grade from the Florida Department of Education in 2024, described as the first time in district history, tied to a deliberate shift toward a science-of-reading approach and a custom K-5 ELA curriculum aligned to Florida's B.E.S.T. standards. That curriculum reform has a direct bearing on what early-literacy instruction looks like at Sawgrass Lake and schools like it. In November 2024, Pinellas voters renewed and expanded a local-option school property tax that funds teacher and support-staff bonuses and programs in reading, music, art, and technology. For families buying a home in the area, that levy is a real line item; for families weighing school quality, it is a stabilizer for programs and staffing that otherwise depend on uncertain state funding cycles.
The neighborhood comparison data was not applicable for this school because the comparison set among Pinellas County districts contained only one district, making relative positioning unavailable.
St. Petersburg itself is a city in an active growth phase. The housing market near the school's zip code has seen values decline year over year, moving against the Florida statewide trend, which has also softened but less sharply. Rents in the area have edged down as well. That combination of cooling prices and rents makes the immediate area somewhat more accessible than it was at the peak, though the mortgage-to-income ratio still sits at a level that requires household planning. The city's economic base is broad, anchored by financial services firms, electronics manufacturing, marine and life sciences institutions, and health systems, and a large redevelopment project around the downtown Tropicana Field area is expected to reshape the city's built environment over the coming years.
The school's location in the northern part of the city places families within reach of downtown St. Petersburg's waterfront parks, library branches, and transit connections, including a bus rapid transit line that runs from downtown to the beaches. The neighborhood fabric of northern St. Petersburg is residential in character, distinct from the denser grid neighborhoods closer to the downtown core.
For a family weighing Sawgrass Lake, the strongest case rests on the third- and fifth-grade performance levels and the district's documented investment in early literacy. The fourth-grade results are a genuine question mark, and a parent would be well served asking the school what specific supports are in place for students in that grade band.
See more original research from School Decision →