The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in Math. The lowest is 56% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Mossy Head School
Mossy Head School sits along US Highway 90 on the western edge of DeFuniak Springs, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the north end of Walton County. It is a regular public elementary school in the Walton County School District, and the physical address places it closer to the rural stretch of highway than to the Victorian historic district centered on Lake DeFuniak. Families moving to this part of the county will find it is the neighborhood school for this corridor.
The student body is sizable for a PK-5 school. The demographic picture is predominantly white, with a meaningful Hispanic population and smaller numbers of students from other backgrounds. The most striking characteristic of the enrollment is economic: a very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, well above what you would find at a typical Florida elementary school. That context matters when reading the academic results, because schools serving high concentrations of economically disadvantaged students face a harder baseline than state averages reflect.
On Florida's FAST assessments, Mossy Head's math results are genuinely encouraging. Across all three tested grades, third through fifth, the school's math proficiency runs comfortably above the majority of students tested statewide, with fourth grade performing particularly well. ELA results are more mixed: third and fourth grade sit below the majority of students statewide, while fifth grade is closer to even. Science, tested only at fifth grade, comes in below the statewide majority. The pattern worth noting is that math is a clear strength here, and ELA and science are areas where parents may want to have a conversation with the school about what support looks like for their child, particularly in reading. Trend data across years was not available in the data provided, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving, holding steady, or declining.
No data was provided on chronic absenteeism, IEP rates, or the share of English learners in the building, which are gaps worth asking the school about directly if those topics are relevant to your family.
The comparison framework for Walton County contains only one district, so a within-county peer comparison is not meaningful here. The school belongs to Walton County School District, which is publicly reported to have a voter-approved half-mill operating property tax that helps fund extracurriculars, technology, and competitive salaries. Families buying a home in the area would see this reflected in property tax bills, and it requires periodic renewal by voters. At the district level, a new senior high school in DeFuniak Springs is in the capital plan, which matters for families thinking about where children will land after middle school. The south end of the county is seeing faster enrollment growth and capacity pressure, but Mossy Head sits on the north side, which has a different growth profile: publicly reported sources describe DeFuniak Springs itself entering a more active development phase after slower years, with new residential subdivisions and utility connections accelerating.
The town's housing market, as of mid-2026, shows home values meaningfully below both the Florida statewide benchmark and the national level, with a slight year-over-year dip. That gap from state and national averages makes north Walton County, and DeFuniak Springs specifically, a more accessible entry point than coastal Walton County towns like Santa Rosa Beach, which command much higher prices. For renters, reported asking rents represent a moderate share of income relative to ownership costs. DeFuniak Springs itself is a small county-seat town built around a spring-fed lake, with a walkable historic core, a Main Street program, and civic anchors including the county courthouse, the Walton-DeFuniak Library, and Chipley Park. The town is car-dependent for most errands, sitting off Interstate 10. No local transit system is identified in available sources.
For a family weighing Mossy Head specifically: the school's math results stand out positively against Florida peers. The high economic disadvantage rate is the important context alongside those numbers, and ELA and science results are areas worth probing. Program-level details, staffing ratios, and extracurricular offerings were not available in the data provided, so a school visit would fill in the picture the numbers cannot.
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