The top reported proficiency rate is 53% in Math. The lowest is 47% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Emma E. Booker Elementary School
Emma E. Booker Elementary sits on Dr. Martin Luther King Way in the city of Sarasota, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The school draws from a neighborhood that reflects the working-class and lower-income side of a city more widely associated with Gulf Coast affluence. Nearly the entire student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, making this one of the highest-poverty school populations in any context. Students are predominantly Black, with a substantial Hispanic share and smaller White and multiracial groups. Data on English learner and IEP rates was not available in what we reviewed.
State testing results come from Florida's FAST assessment and the statewide science exam. The picture they show is mixed and worth a parent's close attention. In third grade, math and ELA proficiency are at or above half of students, which is a reasonable baseline for this population context. By fifth grade, both subjects fall to well below half of students meeting the proficiency standard, and that pattern of declining rates across the tested grades is consistent across math, reading, and science. Fifth-grade science sits just above the midpoint. These are not catastrophic numbers, but they are below what most families would hope to see by the end of elementary school, and a parent would be well served to ask the school directly what supports are in place for students who are falling behind, particularly in the upper grades.
No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether results are improving, holding, or declining over time.
The school is part of Sarasota County Schools, a district that has been through real structural change in recent years. The district shifted to Florida's B.E.S.T. curriculum standards across 2021 through 2023, replacing Common Core, and the FAST assessment replaced the prior FSA around the same time. Because of those transitions, year-over-year score comparisons carry uncertainty. Separately, voters in late 2024 renewed a property tax referendum that funds teacher pay, extended learning time, arts, and career programs through 2030. That is a genuine district-level commitment with direct classroom implications. The district also approved in late 2025 a "Future Focused Strategic Initiative" that converts several elementary campuses to K-8 schools beginning in 2026 and adds STEAM and magnet programming to specific sites. Emma E. Booker is not named among those converting campuses in what we reviewed, but parents should confirm with the district whether any program or attendance changes are planned for this school specifically.
The surrounding Sarasota community is a Gulf Coast city in active growth, with a downtown core that is publicly reported as walkable and arts-rich, anchored by bayfront parks, a major public library, the Sarasota Opera, Florida Studio Theatre, and a transit network run by Breeze Transit. Health care and education are the area's largest employers, alongside tourism and manufacturing. The housing market near the school is more accessible than Sarasota's coastal and downtown core, with home values that have pulled back modestly year over year and rents that are roughly flat. Renting here consumes a substantial share of median income, a real constraint for families in this part of the city.
No information on programs, extracurriculars, staffing ratios, or attendance rates was available in what we reviewed. For a school serving a high-poverty community, those details, including what intervention programs exist, what the teacher experience and turnover look like, and what the school culture is day to day, matter considerably. A visit and direct conversation with school leadership would give a family far more than any data profile can.
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