The top reported proficiency rate is 71% in Science. The lowest is 55% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Lamarque Elementary School
Lamarque Elementary sits on Lamarque Avenue in North Port, a rapidly expanding city in Sarasota County that has been among the fastest-growing municipalities in the country. The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public elementary school within the Sarasota County School District.
The school is large for its grade band, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across grade levels. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Lamarque in a more economically challenged position than many schools in the county. The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up a meaningful share and smaller populations of Black, multiracial, and Asian students. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided.
On Florida's FAST assessments, the picture is mixed. In ELA, roughly half or fewer of third graders tested as proficient, with rates climbing in fourth and fifth grade to levels closer to two-thirds. Math follows a similar upward arc across grades, with third grade sitting just above half proficient and fifth grade performing more solidly. Fifth grade science stands out as a relative strength, with nearly three-quarters of students testing proficient on the Florida Statewide Science Assessment. The upward pattern from third to fifth grade across all tested subjects is worth noting, though a parent may want to ask the school directly what is driving that progression and how it is supported for incoming students. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether performance has been improving or holding steady over time.
Because the comparison set for Sarasota County contains only one district, a positioning comparison relative to neighboring districts was not applicable.
North Port itself provides important context. The city is low-density and auto-dependent, built around subdivisions, canals, and nature rather than any walkable commercial core. Families drive to shopping corridors, and civic life is spread across separated campuses. The Wellen Park master-planned community is reshaping the city's southern edge, with a waterfront town center that opened in 2023, but much of the surrounding development remains under active construction. CoolToday Park, the Atlanta Braves' spring training facility, anchors the area alongside nature preserves like Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park and the broader Myakka River corridor. A new full-service hospital is publicly reported to be advancing in the city, adding health care as a growing employment anchor alongside construction and retail.
The local housing market shows home values that have pulled back modestly over the past year and sit below the Florida statewide benchmark, which may matter to families weighing their options. Rents have edged up slightly. At current mortgage rates, the estimated monthly carrying cost for a typical home in the zip code places a real financial weight on buyers, and the rent-to-income ratio points to a strained affordability picture for renters.
At the district level, two changes are worth knowing about. Voters renewed the district's operating millage in late 2024, locking in supplemental funding through 2030 for teacher recruitment and retention, arts, and career and technical education. Separately, the school board unanimously approved a restructuring plan in late 2025 that converts several elementary schools into K-8 campuses with new STEAM and magnet programming, beginning in 2026. Lamarque is not named among the campuses being converted, but families should verify directly with the district how, if at all, those changes affect feeder patterns or program options for Lamarque students.
The school operates within a community in genuine transition, one where enrollment pressures from rapid growth and ongoing curricular shifts from Florida's B.E.S.T. Standards are live realities. For a family moving into a North Port subdivision, Lamarque is likely a neighborhood school with a diverse economic mix, solid upper-elementary science results, and reading and math proficiency that is developing but not yet strong at the youngest tested grades.
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