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Does EXPLORER K-8 have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,544
Elementary
DISTRICT 903 · STATE 604
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HERNANDO·NCES 120081007491
EXPLORER K-8
10252 NORTHCLIFFE BLVD, SPRING HILL, FL 34608 · (352) 797-7094 · Hernando County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY22-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,544 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.3:1
95 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.4:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
65%
1,005 students
DISTRICT 54% · STATE 50%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 38 | 2% |
| Kindergarten | 122 | 8% |
| Grade 1 | 134 | 9% |
| Grade 2 | 151 | 10% |
| Grade 3 | 163 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 159 | 10% |
| Grade 5 | 157 | 10% |
| Grade 6 | 189 | 12% |
| Grade 7 | 205 | 13% |
| Grade 8 | 226 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (122) is 46% smaller than its 8th grade class (226).
Student demographics
64%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 70% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
FAST / B.E.S.T. 2024-25 . % at Level 3 or AboveEnglish Language Arts
44.9%
FL avg 56.7% . +4.9pp since 2023
Math
44.0%
FL avg 58.9% . -1.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 44 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Florida schools, those numbers are about 57 and 59. Reading and writing scores are up about 5 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 1 points.
FAST / B.E.S.T. results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 44.9% | 44.0% |
| 2023-24 | 40.0% | 45.5% |
% at Level 3 or Above, all students and all tested grades.
Source: FAST / B.E.S.T.. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
43.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.5%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% typical for Florida schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Florida's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like EXPLORER K-8
EXPLORER K-8's state test result (43.7% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| EXPLORER K-8 this school | 1,544 | 65.1% | 43.7% |
| MARION OAKS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL OCALA | 1,196 | 65.6% | 39.5% |
| SUNCOAST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SPRING HILL | 967 | 62.2% | 57.1% |
| JOHN D. FLOYD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SPRING HILL | 920 | 61.2% | 48.4% |
| R. BRUCE WAGNER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LAKELAND | 899 | 65.0% | 55.3% |
| NORTH FORT MYERS ACADEMY FOR THE ARTS NORTH FORT MYERS | 1,353 | 53.2% | 51.4% |
Matched among Florida elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where EXPLORER K-8 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Florida | In Hernando County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 43.7% | #1,652 of 2,136 | #14 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 44.0% | #1,790 of 2,149 ▼ 196 | #12 of 14 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.9% | #1,553 of 2,149 ▲ 83 | #13 of 14 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,544 | #23 of 2,267 | #2 of 14 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.3:1 | #1,205 of 2,077 | #8 of 13 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.3% | #614 of 2,108 | #2 of 13 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 65.1% | #679 of 2,188 | #5 of 14 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.0% | #1,081 of 1,374 | N/A |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,544
+20 (+1%) vs 2020
-12% since 2010-11, when it was 1,762
Student : Teacher
16.3:1
was 14.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,544 | 95 | 16.3:1 | 65% (1,005) |
| 2023-24 | 1,578 | 107 | 14.8:1 | 75% (1,191) |
| 2022-23 | 1,617 | 106 | 15.3:1 | 69% (1,112) |
| 2020-21 | 1,524 | 103 | 14.8:1 | 68% (1,034) |
| 2017-18 | 1,660 | 109 | 15.2:1 | 72% (1,191) |
| 2015-16 | 1,679 | 111 | 15.1:1 | 80% (1,350) |
| 2010-11 | 1,762 | 116 | 15.2:1 | 65% (1,149) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for EXPLORER K-8.
About EXPLORER K-8
As a high-enrollment elementary school, EXPLORER K-8 serves students in SPRING HILL, Florida. The school counted 1,544 students in 2024-25, covering pre-K through 8. The school is 156% larger than the average for elementary schools in Florida.
EXPLORER K-8 is a school in HERNANDO. The district has 29 schools and 23,734 students.
The largest racial or ethnic group at EXPLORER K-8 is White, with 43% of students. Enrollment also includes 40% Hispanic, 10% Black, and 6% multiracial. The school's White share is 34 points below the 76% share among Hernando County residents. The diversity index for EXPLORER K-8 is 64%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
On staff are 95 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 16.3:1. Elementary schools in Florida have an average ratio of 17.5:1. About 65% of students at EXPLORER K-8 are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Hernando County report 53%.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, EXPLORER K-8 falls in the middle 80% of Florida schools: 43.7% actual against 48.5% predicted.
The school is in Hernando County, where the median household earns about $66,058 a year, 21% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Hernando County's 31 public schools enroll about 23,734 students and include EXPLORER K-8.
Measured in a straight line, GULF COAST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is about 0.4 miles from EXPLORER K-8. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, EXPLORER K-8 ranks 7th on average proficiency.
The federal government classifies EXPLORER K-8's location as Suburb: Mid-size.
Enrollment went from 1,524 in 2020-21 to 1,544 in 2024-25, a change of 20 students. Federal data show the ratio rising from 14.8:1 to 16.3:1.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Hernando County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
207,018
Census ACS
Median income
$66,058
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
31
23,734 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in HERNANDO
- FRANK W. SPRINGSTEAD HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,853 students
- WINDING WATERS K-8Elementary · 1,613 students
- CHALLENGER K-8 SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATHElementary · 1,456 students
- CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,444 students
- WEEKI WACHEE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,437 students
- HERNANDO HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,299 students
Other schools in SPRING HILL
- FRANK W. SPRINGSTEAD HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,853 students
- CHALLENGER K-8 SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATHElementary · 1,456 students
- CLASSICAL PREPARATORY SCHOOLCombined · 1,154 students
- SUNCOAST ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 967 students
- JOHN D. FLOYD ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 920 students
- DELTONA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 854 students
Nearby schools
- GULF COAST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL0.4 mi · 106
- FRANK W. SPRINGSTEAD HIGH SCHOOL0.9 mi · 1,853
- FOX CHAPEL MIDDLE SCHOOL1.6 mi · 815
- GULF COAST ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY2.2 mi · 217
- SPRING HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL2.6 mi · 829
- PACE CENTER FOR GIRLS2.7 mi · 20
Frequently asked questions
About EXPLORER K-8How many students attend EXPLORER K-8?
EXPLORER K-8 enrolls approximately 1,544 students in grades PK-08.
What age range does EXPLORER K-8 serve?
EXPLORER K-8 serves students from grade PK through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at EXPLORER K-8?
Approximately 16.3:1 students per teacher at EXPLORER K-8.
What is the racial breakdown of students at EXPLORER K-8?
At EXPLORER K-8, the student body is approximately 43% White, 40% Hispanic, 10% Black, 1% Asian, 6% Two or more.
What district is EXPLORER K-8 in?
EXPLORER K-8 is part of HERNANDO.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.