The top reported proficiency rate is 42% in Math. The lowest is 30% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Weatherbee Elementary School
Weatherbee Elementary sits on the east side of Fort Pierce, serving prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the St. Lucie district. The school carries a substantial enrollment for a building at this grade band, with students spread fairly evenly across the lower grades tapering toward the upper ones. The student body is majority Hispanic and Black, with a smaller share of white students and a very small multiracial population. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Weatherbee among the higher-poverty elementary schools by that measure. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs were not available in the records we reviewed, so a parent who wants to understand those support structures in detail would be well-served to ask the school directly.
On state assessments, Florida reports FAST Math and FAST ELA results for grades three through five, and the Statewide Science Assessment for grade five. At Weatherbee, math proficiency rates across those three grades fall in a range that sits meaningfully below the Florida midpoint, with third grade performing somewhat better than fifth. ELA proficiency rates are lower still across the board, running in the low-to-mid thirties for most grades. Fifth-grade science results are similarly modest. These are real gaps that a parent should weigh. They do not by themselves describe everything happening in a school, and context like the concentration of economic disadvantage matters, but the numbers are what they are and a parent with questions about instructional approach, intervention programs, or reading support would be right to pursue those directly with the school. Trend data was not available, so whether performance has been moving in any direction cannot be assessed from what was provided.
The school does not have a magnet designation and operates as a standard neighborhood public school. Program offerings were not reported in the data we had, so specifics about enrichment, arts, or specialty tracks are a gap here.
The surrounding community gives some useful context. Fort Pierce is the county seat of St. Lucie County, a coastal city rooted in commercial fishing and an older Florida character, with a walkable historic waterfront downtown. The city's major employers include the school district itself, Indian River State College, and the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority, along with county government and a regional manufacturing base in boats, aerospace, and food processing. Publicly reported sources note that a large downtown redevelopment project, King's Landing on a former power plant site, is working through approvals and phased construction that could reshape the waterfront area over several years, though some residents have raised questions about affordability amid that change.
On housing, the zip code surrounding the school carries home values that sit well below both the Florida statewide benchmark and the national median, and year-over-year values have declined modestly. Rents have moved in the opposite direction, rising over the past year. The rent-to-income ratio sits at a level that suggests housing costs are a real budget factor for renters in the area. Families buying rather than renting would find entry prices that are more accessible than much of coastal Florida, though carrying costs at current mortgage rates still make that a stretch relative to local incomes.
At the district level, St. Lucie voters have passed two recent measures that directly affect what families experience. A renewed operating millage funds teacher pay, a school resource officer on every campus, and mental-health services; that levy runs through 2027 and a further renewal is expected to go before voters in 2026. A separately approved half-cent sales tax supports capital construction, the same fund behind the district's push to open a new high school in the Tradition area in 2025 and a new K-8 school planned for 2026. Growth is concentrated on the Port St. Lucie and Tradition side of the county, and the district has been updating attendance zones as a result, so families in the Fort Pierce area are less directly affected by that rezoning than those in the southwest part of the county, but the broader capital investment touches all campuses.
A parent considering Weatherbee should go in with clear questions about academic support structures, given the proficiency picture the state data shows.
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