EMERALD SHORES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

EMERALD SHORES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is an elementary school of middle-of-the-pack scale in OCALA, Florida, one of the schools within MARION, caters to 696 students in grades pre-K through 5.

Within MARION, which oversees 62 schools and 46,349 students, EMERALD SHORES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, EMERALD SHORES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL reports that the most-represented group is White (38%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups; the rest breaks down as 28% Hispanic, 26% Black, 8% multiracial. By comparison, Marion County as a whole is about 69% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school employs 38 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 18.3:1. The state averages around 17.5:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 72% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Marion County (around 57%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, EMERALD SHORES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 45.2%; this one delivers 36.3%.

In the area at large, ACS estimates for Marion County put median household income runs about $61,010, roughly 23% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Marion County runs 68 public schools (combined enrollment of about 46,349 students), of which EMERALD SHORES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one.

LAKE WEIR HIGH SCHOOL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.6 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 6 other public schools cluster around EMERALD SHORES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), EMERALD SHORES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 8th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 45.2%.

Geographically, the school is in a bedroom-community area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count expanded 26%: 552 students in 2018 compared to 696 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 22% to 28% across the same window. Class-load math has widened: from 17.3:1 in 2018 to 18.3:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.