The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Science. The lowest is 47% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Spring Lake Elementary School
Spring Lake Elementary sits on Orange Avenue in Altamonte Springs, a suburban city in Seminole County just north of Orlando. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public elementary school in the Seminole County Public Schools district.
The student body is relatively large for an elementary school at this grade band. Racially, Hispanic students make up the largest share, followed by Black students, white students, and students identifying as two or more races. The most telling economic signal is that a very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, well above what you would typically see at an average Florida elementary school. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs were not available in the source materials, so a parent wanting to understand those support structures should ask the school directly.
On Florida's FAST assessments, which are the state's primary measure of academic progress, Spring Lake's proficiency results across grades three through five sit below the midpoint in both math and ELA. Math proficiency declines across the grade levels tested, with third grade performing relatively better and fifth grade considerably lower. ELA results are more consistent across grades but remain in a similar range. Fifth-grade science, measured by the Florida Statewide Science Assessment, comes in above the school's own math and ELA results, which is a relative bright spot. There is a sixth-grade math result reported, but it appears to reflect a very small group, likely a handful of students placed above grade level, and is not representative of the broader school population. A parent interested in how these numbers compare against other Seminole County schools should note that the comparison framework in this data covers only district-level comparisons within the county, and Spring Lake is a school rather than a district, so a direct peer-school comparison was not available here. Trend data across years was not available in the source materials, so it is not possible to say from this data whether performance is improving, holding, or declining. That is a question worth raising with school leadership.
The Altamonte Springs housing market where Spring Lake draws from has seen home values soften modestly over the past year, pulling back slightly from prior highs. Rents have also eased modestly. Values here sit below both the Florida state median and the national benchmark, making this one of the more accessible pockets of the broader Orlando metro for buyers and renters alike. The city is in an active multifamily construction phase, with several apartment projects completed or underway around the SunRail station corridor, which may shift the neighborhood's demographic and economic composition over the next few years.
Altamonte Springs itself is auto-oriented but not without civic life. Cranes Roost Park in the Uptown district provides a genuine pedestrian gathering place, with a lakefront boardwalk, fountains, and entertainment. Healthcare anchored by AdventHealth is the dominant employment sector, alongside retail. Residents should know that the city's own library closed permanently in fall 2024, and library service now requires a trip to one of the Seminole County branches in neighboring cities.
At the district level, two policy changes directly affect the Spring Lake experience. Starting in 2025-26, elementary students are prohibited from using cell phones throughout the school day, a meaningful shift in daily school environment. Separately, the district now treats AI-assisted schoolwork as plagiarism, a policy that shapes academic-integrity expectations beginning as early as the upper elementary grades. On the funding side, Seminole County voters renewed the countywide infrastructure sales surtax in late 2024, sustaining a long-term stream for school facilities, security, and technology across the district.
For a family evaluating fit, Spring Lake is a diverse, economically mixed elementary school in a community undergoing real physical change. The academic proficiency data reflects challenges that are present and worth understanding, and a parent would do well to ask the school specifically about what academic support and intervention programs are in place for students working below grade level.
See more original research from School Decision →