Suwannee Riverside Elementary, Live Oak FL

Original Research by School Decision on Suwannee Riverside Elementary

Suwannee Riverside Elementary is a public prekindergarten through fifth grade school in Live Oak, the county seat of Suwannee County in north-central Florida. It draws a population that is majority white with substantial Hispanic and Black enrollment, and a large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic character of the surrounding community. IEP and English learner counts were not available in the data provided.

The school's most recent Florida FAST and statewide science results, from the 2024-25 school year, show a mixed picture across grades. Third grade math is the clearest bright spot, with most students scoring proficient, which is a genuinely strong result at that grade level. Reading in third grade also shows more than half of students proficient. By fourth and fifth grade, however, proficiency rates in both math and ELA fall closer to or below the midpoint, meaning a meaningful portion of upper elementary students are not yet meeting grade-level expectations. The fifth grade science result sits roughly in the middle. Trend data across years was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these numbers are moving up, down, or holding steady. A parent who wants to understand how students are progressing year over year would be worth asking the school directly.

Because the school serves only prekindergarten through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate, which is expected. The neighbor comparison framework found only one district in Suwannee County, so no peer-district comparison on proficiency or chronic absenteeism was possible; those figures are simply not applicable here. Course access, staffing ratios, attendance, and discipline data were not available in the data provided.

On housing, the Live Oak area offers home values that are well below both the Florida state median and the national median, and prices have moved modestly upward over the past year. The ratio of home price to income is considerably lower than the national figure, which makes the area relatively accessible for buyers by that measure. Rental cost data was not available for this zip code. The community sits in a part of Florida that is largely rural and agricultural, though specific employer and development detail for Live Oak did not come through in the research gathered.

Families of younger children, particularly those entering kindergarten or first grade, might find the third grade results encouraging as an early signal of what students can build toward. The drop-off in upper grades is worth asking about, specifically what the school does to support students who are not meeting proficiency in grades four and five, and whether intervention resources are available. District-level strategic priorities were not confirmed in the research gathered, so that context is absent here rather than speculated about.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 68% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 51% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 48% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 60% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 43% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 53% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 56% · ▼ 3 pts below district

even with state median

This schoolSUWANNEE, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income61%Higher-income60%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income45%Higher-income62%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income45%Higher-income62%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income65%Higher-income68%3 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income54%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income37%13 pp gap