The top reported proficiency rate is 77% in Science. The lowest is 69% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on W. Douglas Hartley Elementary
W. Douglas Hartley Elementary sits on Cacique Drive in St. Augustine, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the St. Johns County School District. The school draws from a city that is growing quickly, carries a strong tourism and historic-preservation identity, and offers a mix of older neighborhoods near the famous downtown and newer suburban subdivisions spreading outward.
On Florida's FAST assessments, Hartley posts results that are clearly above the midpoint among the two districts in St. Johns County. Third-grade math comes in strong, and fifth-grade science is the school's highest single mark. Reading scores in grades three through five cluster in the upper-sixties to low seventies, a solid range that still leaves a meaningful portion of students short of proficiency. Fourth-grade math is the softer spot across both subjects, worth asking about directly if you have a child heading into that year. A sixth-grade math result appears in the data but was suppressed, likely due to a small group size; it does not reflect on the school's core program. Science is tested only at fifth grade under Florida's system, and no science or ELA data are reported for grades below third because those grades fall outside the state's testing window.
The enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving this grade band. The demographic picture is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up roughly a tenth of enrollment and Black students a smaller share. Students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch account for close to half the enrollment, which means the school serves a genuine mix of economic circumstances. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in what was provided, so a parent interested in those support structures should ask the school directly.
Multi-year trend data were not available, so it is not possible to say whether scores here are rising, flat, or declining. Chronic absenteeism and discipline data were also absent from the payload.
The surrounding community adds real texture. St. Augustine's cost of living has a housing market running roughly in line with the national median, though prices have edged slightly downward over the past year. Rents are moderately elevated relative to income, and rent absorbs a meaningful share of a typical household budget. The county recently passed, publicly reported, a new property tax levy dedicated to teacher pay and student support services, including school nurses and mental-health counselors, alongside a renewed half-cent sales surtax for school construction and safety. Both measures passed in November 2024 and are directly relevant to any homebuyer in the district, both as an ongoing tax cost and as an indicator of community investment in keeping up with the county's rapid growth.
That growth is real. St. Johns County is among the fastest-growing counties in the country, and new housing is pushing outward along the I-95 and US-1 corridors. The school may feel these pressures over time; it is worth asking the district how capacity planning is handled at Hartley specifically.
For a family thinking about day-to-day life, St. Augustine itself offers a walkable historic downtown, a county library system with multiple branches, proximity to the beach, and employers ranging from Northrop Grumman's aircraft maintenance facility to Flagler Health+ and Flagler College. The Sunshine Bus provides limited fixed-route transit, and most families here rely on cars for the school commute and daily errands.
Hartley's academic results place it in a favorable position within its county context, with science and third-grade math standing out. The ELA scores are reasonable without being exceptional, and fourth-grade outcomes across both subjects are worth monitoring. The school's economic diversity and the district's recent voter-approved investment in support staff suggest an environment that is trying to serve a broad range of students, though specific program details and staffing ratios were not available in the data provided.
See more original research from School Decision →