The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in English language arts. The lowest is 36% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Forest Grove Middle School
Forest Grove Middle School sits on the south side of Fort Pierce, serving sixth through eighth graders in St. Lucie County's only traditional public school district. The school draws students from a community whose identity is shaped by its working waterfront, older residential neighborhoods, and a downtown that feels more like coastal Old Florida than the newer suburban expansion happening further south in Port St. Lucie and Tradition.
The enrollment here is sizeable for a middle school. The student body is roughly split between Black and Hispanic students, with a smaller share of white students and a very small proportion from other backgrounds. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which means the school is serving a population with significant economic need. Data on English learner and special education populations were not available in what was provided.
On Florida's FAST assessments in the most recent school year, proficiency rates tell a mixed and generally modest story. In ELA, sixth graders came in at roughly half proficient, seventh graders somewhat below that, and eighth graders lower still. Math results vary more sharply by grade: sixth grade sits near the middle of the range, seventh grade drops to a considerably lower rate, and eighth grade reaches just above half proficient. On the eighth-grade science assessment, roughly a third of students scored proficient. These figures are below where many families would hope to see them, and a parent who wants to understand what support the school provides to students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks would do well to ask the school directly about its intervention and tutoring structures. No multi-year trend data were available, so it is not possible from this data to characterize whether performance is improving or declining.
Because this is a grades-six-through-eight school, it carries no graduation rate, and AP or dual-enrollment pathways do not apply at this level. Program-specific information was not provided. A comparison of proficiency against other districts in St. Lucie County was not calculable because the county contains only one district.
For families thinking about housing, the local market context is worth understanding. Home values in the zip code are roughly in line with the state and national medians, though both local and state values have dipped modestly over the past year. The price-to-income ratio and estimated monthly mortgage costs place homeownership here at the high end of what is broadly considered affordable, a pattern seen across much of Florida right now. Rental cost data for this specific zip code were not available. Fort Pierce is the county seat and tends to have older housing stock and lower prices than Port St. Lucie, though the King's Landing waterfront redevelopment project moving through approvals downtown could shift that calculus over the next few years. Some longtime residents have raised affordability concerns about that development, publicly reported.
The broader district context matters here. St. Lucie Public Schools is managing fast growth, having opened a new high school in the Tradition area in 2025 and planning a new K-8 school for 2026. Attendance zone changes have accompanied that growth. Families relocating should confirm their boundary assignment carefully, since rezoning is active across the district. Voters have also renewed both an operating millage and a capital sales tax in recent years, with the operating levy funding teacher pay, a school resource officer on every campus, and mental health services. Those voter-supported funds directly touch the staffing and safety environment at Forest Grove.
The school itself is a regular public, non-charter middle school with no magnet designation noted in the data. Its location, on South 25th Street in a residential stretch of Fort Pierce, places it away from the tourist-facing waterfront but within the city's core. Free county bus service through the Area Regional Transit system connects this part of Fort Pierce to the broader community.
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