The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in Science. The lowest is 60% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Cranberry Elementary School
Cranberry Elementary sits on Shalimar Terrace in North Port, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the Sarasota County School District. The school is a mid-to-large elementary by the standards of its grade band, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across grades. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school among higher-need campuses in the district. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful Hispanic population and smaller shares of Black, multiracial, and Asian students. Data on English learner and special education populations were not available in the materials reviewed.
On Florida's FAST assessments for the most recent school year, Cranberry's math results are a relative strength. Proficiency rates in third and fourth grade math come in at roughly the low-to-mid seventies range, and fifth grade math is just below that, all sitting solidly above the midpoint one might expect from a high-poverty elementary. ELA tells a different story. Third grade reading proficiency lands in the low sixties, and fourth grade dips below sixty, with fifth grade also in that range. These are not alarming numbers, but they are softer, and a parent interested in reading development may want to ask the school how it structures its literacy instruction and what supplemental supports are available. Fifth grade science is a comparative bright spot, with proficiency in the low seventies. Multi-year trend data were not available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether results are improving, flat, or declining.
The comparison data for Sarasota County contains only one district, so a formal peer comparison was not possible. Chronic absenteeism data were also absent.
Program information was not included in the materials, so it is not possible to say whether Cranberry offers specific enrichment, gifted, or intervention programming beyond the standard curriculum. Families interested in specialized offerings should ask the school directly. The district as a whole recently renewed a voter-approved funding measure that supports teacher recruitment and retention, extended instructional time, arts, and career and technical programs through 2030. That vote passed with the widest margin in Florida, which signals community backing for school funding. The district also approved a structural reorganization in late 2025 that converts several elementary campuses to K-8 configurations and adds STEAM and Cambridge programming, though this plan involves schools other than Cranberry and the materials do not indicate it directly affects this campus.
North Port itself is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, a sprawling, low-density place shaped by subdivision streets, freshwater canals, and nature preserves rather than a walkable center. The city has no traditional downtown; daily life depends on driving, with shopping clustered along arterial corridors and in centers like Cocoplum Village. The Wellen Park master-planned community in the city's southern reach opened a pedestrian-oriented downtown in 2023 and continues to add neighborhoods at pace. CoolToday Park, the Atlanta Braves' spring training ballpark, has drawn hotel and retail development nearby. Healthcare, construction, and retail trade are the dominant employment sectors, and a new full-service Sarasota Memorial hospital is moving forward in the city.
The housing market around the school has seen home values decline modestly year over year, pulling below both the state median and the national median. Rents have edged up slightly. At current mortgage rates, the estimated monthly cost of ownership represents a price-to-income ratio that is notably stretched relative to national norms, and renters are devoting a meaningful share of income to housing costs. For families weighing a move into this catchment, the housing picture is more affordable than Sarasota proper but still carries real cost pressure.
Cranberry Elementary is a neighborhood school embedded in a rapidly growing, family-oriented community. Its math and science results are respectable for a school serving a high-poverty population, while its reading numbers are softer and worth monitoring. The missing data points, particularly around special education, English learner services, and program offerings, leave meaningful gaps for families with specific needs.
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