1
How has FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
644
Elementary
DISTRICT 482 · STATE 604
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·COLUMBIA·NCES 120036000363
FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
18119 SW STATE ROAD 47, FORT WHITE, FL 32038 · (386) 344-6301 · Columbia County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL644 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.6:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
63%
406 students
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 50%
Community
3
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
47.6%
FL avg 56.7% . -0.3pp since 2023
Math
54.2%
FL avg 58.9% . +1.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 48 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 54 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Florida schools, those numbers are about 57 and 59. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 1 points.
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
46.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.6%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% 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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
644
-28 (-4%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
was 14.3:1
% White
67%
was 74%
% Hispanic
18%
was 7%
% Black
9%
was 10%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a mid-sized primary school in FORT WHITE, Florida, operated by COLUMBIA. The school hosts 644 students in grades pre-K through 5.
COLUMBIA comprises 16 schools with combined enrollment of 9,815 students; FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is among them.
On demographics, FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL reports that 67% of the student body identifies as White; the rest is composed of 18% Hispanic, 9% Black, 6% multiracial.
On the resource side, On paper, FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has 37 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 17.4:1. That tracks the state average closely. An estimated 63% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.
On a demographically-adjusted basis, FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 49.6%; this one delivers 46.7%.
Around the school, community-level numbers for Columbia County indicate median household earnings sit near $59,205, roughly 17% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. In all, Columbia County runs 19 public schools (combined enrollment of about 9,815 students), of which FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one.
FORT WHITE HIGH SCHOOL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. On composite proficiency, FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL comes 9th of 9 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 61.4%.
The campus sits in a countryside setting.
Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has contracted 4%, going from 672 students in 2018 to 644 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 7% to 18% across the same window. Class-load math has grew: from 14.3:1 in 2018 to 17.4:1 in 2025.
Inside the community feed, members of the FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL community share and discuss school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.
Columbia County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
71,789
Census ACS
Median income
$59,205
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
17%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
19
9,815 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in COLUMBIA
- COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,711 students
- FORT WHITE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,101 students
- BELMONT ACADEMYCombined · 828 students
- LAKE CITY MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 809 students
- WESTSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 695 students
- EASTSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 655 students
Nearby schools
- FORT WHITE HIGH SCHOOL0.3 mi · 1,101
- HIGH SPRINGS COMMUNITY SCHOOL9.8 mi · 902
- BELMONT ACADEMY10.3 mi · 828
- COLUMBIA CITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL10.6 mi · 585
- BRANFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL12.6 mi · 712
- BRANFORD HIGH SCHOOL13.0 mi · 799
Frequently asked questions
About FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLHow large is FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls approximately 644 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serve?
FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
The student-to-teacher ratio at FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is approximately 17.4:1 (37 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
Student demographics at FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL are roughly 67% White, 18% Hispanic, 9% Black, 0% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL public or private?
FORT WHITE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a public K-12 school, overseen by COLUMBIA.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.