The top reported proficiency rate is 83% in Math. The lowest is 70% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Van R. Butler Elementary School
Van R. Butler Elementary sits on County Highway 30A in Santa Rosa Beach, in the south end of Walton County along the Florida Panhandle coast. It serves kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the Walton County district.
The school is large for an elementary. Enrollment is well above what you'd expect from a typical K-5 building, and grade levels vary in size, with second and fourth grades among the fuller cohorts. Roughly a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this well below the statewide average for that measure. The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up the next largest share and students of two or more races, Asian, and Black students present in smaller groups. Data on English learner counts and special education rates were not reported in what we received, so a parent with questions in those areas would want to ask the school directly.
Academic results on Florida's FAST assessments are strong, particularly in math. Third graders score at the high end of the proficiency range statewide, and fourth graders are close behind. Fifth-grade math proficiency is a step lower but still solid. ELA proficiency runs somewhat behind math at every grade tested, with third grade at the high end of the mid-range, fourth grade a little below that, and fifth grade roughly similar to fourth. Fifth-grade science proficiency sits in a comparable range to ELA. Trend data across years was not available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether scores have been moving up or down. A parent may want to ask the school about trajectory, particularly for fifth-grade ELA and math.
Because Walton County has only one school district, the comparison data set does not support a meaningful peer ranking, so that positioning is not available here.
The housing market around Van R. Butler is worth understanding before relocating. Typical home values in the school's zip code are dramatically above the Florida state benchmark and well above national medians, placing this among the more expensive coastal markets in the state. Rents are also elevated, though both home values and rents have come down modestly over the past year. The estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home in the area is a substantial figure, and the price-to-income ratio sits notably higher than national norms. Families weighing the cost of living here should go in clear-eyed.
On the district side, a few developments are relevant for families in south Walton. Publicly reported coverage indicates that Seacoast Collegiate High School and a Northwest Florida State College satellite in the Santa Rosa Beach area completed a major campus expansion in 2025, doubling dual-enrollment capacity and consolidating the collegiate high school onto one campus for the first time. That matters for families thinking about the academic pathway past elementary school, since dual enrollment and early-college options appear to be growing directly in this part of the county. A voter-approved half-mill operating property tax funds programs, technology, extracurriculars, and competitive salaries across the district, though this requires periodic renewal. The district is also in a period of notable enrollment growth in the south county, and a countywide sales tax referendum that would have funded infrastructure was rejected a few years ago. Capacity pressures, possible rezoning, and crowding are reasonable things to ask the district about if you are weighing a long-term move into this area.
Web research did not return sourceable information about Santa Rosa Beach's walkability, street life, downtown character, or major employers, so those specifics were left out rather than guessed at.
See more original research from School Decision →