The top reported proficiency rate is 88% in Science. The lowest is 81% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Hickory Creek Elementary School
Hickory Creek Elementary sits on a trail-named street in Saint Johns, serving prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the St. Johns County School District. The school's enrollment puts it on the larger end for an elementary campus, with steady numbers spread across each grade from kindergarten through fifth.
The academic picture here is genuinely strong. On Florida's FAST assessments, proficiency rates in math across the tested grades run from the low-to-mid eighties into the low nineties, with fifth grade showing the highest math performance of the three reported grades. Reading and language arts follow a similar pattern, with third and fifth grade reaching the low-to-mid eighties and fourth grade somewhat lower, in the mid-seventies. That fourth-grade ELA figure is still well above the state's typical midpoint, but a parent may want to ask the school how it supports students making the transition through that grade. Fifth-grade science proficiency is very high. Relative to districts in St. Johns County, the school's overall proficiency index lands in the top quartile, well above the county median, which is itself a meaningful position given that St. Johns County is publicly reported as one of Florida's higher-performing districts. Multi-year trend data was not available in the data provided, so the trajectory over time is not something this account can address.
The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up the next largest share, followed by students of two or more races, Asian students, and smaller numbers of Black and American Indian students. The share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch is quite low, well below the state norm, which reflects the affluent residential character of the surrounding community. Data on English learner rates and students with individualized education programs was not included in the data provided.
Saint Johns itself is a fast-growing, primarily residential area tucked between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, anchored by large master-planned communities including Nocatee and Durbin Park. Publicly reported sources describe it as one of the fastest-growing counties in Florida, with major new residential projects continuing to reshape the area. Employers in the region span healthcare, education, and retail, with Flagler Health and the school district itself among the larger presences. The housing market surrounding the school sits well above both the Florida and national median home values, with rents also elevated; year-over-year, both have come down modestly from recent highs. Buyers should weigh that the estimated monthly mortgage on a typical local home implies a price-to-income ratio that is notably stretched relative to national norms, though this is characteristic of the broader county rather than a condition specific to this school's zone.
On the district side, two voter-approved measures passed in November 2024 that a prospective homebuyer would want to factor in. A new one-mill property tax dedicated to school operations passed and runs for several years, directing the majority of funds toward teacher and support-staff salaries and benefits, with the remainder going to school safety, nurses, mental-health counselors, and programs including science, art, music, and athletics. Separately, voters renewed the district's half-cent capital sales surtax for another multi-year period to fund new school construction, expansions, technology, and safety improvements as the county continues growing rapidly. The sales tax rate remains the lowest among neighboring northeast Florida counties. Both measures reflect a community actively investing in keeping the district's capacity aligned with enrollment growth.
Chronic absenteeism data and graduation rates were not applicable or available at the elementary school level in the data provided. Program-specific offerings were not included in the data for this school.
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