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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
396
Elementary
DISTRICT 564 · STATE 604
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MANATEE·NCES 120123001230
PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
6806 5TH AVE NW, BRADENTON, FL 34209 · (941) 741-3179 · Manatee County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL396 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.0:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
61%
242 students
DISTRICT 55% · STATE 50%
Community
1
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 | 32 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 60 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 51 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 57 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 67 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 62 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 67 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (60) is 10% smaller than its 5th grade class (67).
Student demographics
59%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 66% · 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
62.9%
FL avg 56.7% . -3.6pp since 2023
Math
69.0%
FL avg 58.9% . -6.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 69 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Florida schools, those numbers are about 57 and 59. Reading and writing scores are down about 4 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 6 points.
FAST / B.E.S.T. results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 62.9% | 69.0% |
| 2023-24 | 66.5% | 75.5% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of FL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
69.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.5%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+18.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 69% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 51% typical for Florida schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 19 points, placing it in Florida's top 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 PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's state test result (69.4% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL this school | 396 | 61.1% | 69.4% |
| SEMINOLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SEMINOLE | 371 | 55.5% | 61.8% |
| WALSINGHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LARGO | 366 | 61.5% | 65.7% |
| SEVEN SPRINGS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEW PORT RICHEY | 469 | 55.4% | 45.3% |
| WESTGATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ST PETERSBURG | 498 | 61.8% | 58.5% |
| BARDMOOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SEMINOLE | 457 | 54.9% | 61.9% |
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 PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Florida | In Manatee County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 69.4% | #490 of 2,136 | #12 of 41 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 69.0% | #690 of 2,149 ▼ 316 | #16 of 41 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 62.9% | #707 of 2,149 ▼ 214 | #13 of 41 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 396 | #1,780 of 2,267 | #37 of 45 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.1:1 | #376 of 2,077 | #11 of 39 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 58.6% | #959 of 2,108 | #20 of 39 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 61.1% | #867 of 2,188 | #22 of 41 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -33.6% | #126 of 1,374 | #1 of 24 |
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
396
-85 (-18%) vs 2020
-44% since 1990-91, when it was 708
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
was 13.0:1
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 | 396 | 28 | 14.1:1 | 61% (242) |
| 2023-24 | 408 | 28 | 14.6:1 | 59% (239) |
| 2022-23 | 434 | 30 | 14.5:1 | 56% (245) |
| 2020-21 | 481 | 37 | 13.0:1 | 54% (258) |
| 2017-18 | 596 | 39 | 15.3:1 | 57% (337) |
| 2015-16 | 591 | 37 | 16.0:1 | 58% (342) |
| 2010-11 | 565 | 36 | 15.7:1 | 48% (274) |
| 2000-01 | 667 | 38 | 17.6:1 | 21% (141) |
| 1990-91 | 708 | 39 | 18.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
About PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is an elementary school with a street address in BRADENTON, Florida. The school enrolls 396 students, from pre-K through 5. Average enrollment for elementary schools in Florida is about 604, so this school runs 34% smaller than that.
PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL belongs to MANATEE, a district of 80 schools and 54,215 students.
A majority of students at PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 59%, are White. Beyond that, enrollment is 22% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 6% Black, and 5% Asian. The White share of the county population is higher, at 72%. PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has a diversity index of 59%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Federal data list 28 full-time-equivalent teachers at PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in 2024-25, for a ratio of 14.1:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in Florida is 17.5:1, higher than at this school. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 61%. Public schools in Manatee County average 51%.
PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL scores 18.9 points above its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests: 69.4% actual versus 50.5% predicted. That puts it in the top 10% of Florida schools on BeatsExpectations.
Manatee County has about 429,792 residents, and median household income is about $78,457, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 35%, and roughly 6% of residents are in poverty. The public schools of Manatee County number 86 and enroll about 54,208.
The nearest other public school, MARTHA B. KING MIDDLE SCHOOL, is about 0.4 miles away. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. Among the 8 closest schools with test data, this one included, PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Suburb: Large: in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Federal counts put enrollment at 481 in 2020-21 and 396 in 2024-25, an 18% decrease. Federal data show the ratio rising from 13.0:1 to 14.1:1.
The discussion area below is open to posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Manatee County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
429,792
Census ACS
Median income
$78,457
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
86
54,208 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in MANATEE
- LAKEWOOD RANCH HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,422 students
- PARRISH COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,266 students
- PALMETTO HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,185 students
- MANATEE SCHOOL FOR THE ARTSHigh · 2,051 students
- MANATEE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,998 students
- BRADEN RIVER HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,705 students
Other schools in BRADENTON
- LAKEWOOD RANCH HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,422 students
- MANATEE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,998 students
- BRADEN RIVER HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,705 students
- SOUTHEAST HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,638 students
- TEAM SUCCESS A SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCECombined · 1,441 students
- BAYSHORE HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,400 students
Nearby schools
- MARTHA B. KING MIDDLE SCHOOL0.4 mi · 897
- OASIS MIDDLE SCHOOL0.5 mi · 49
- IDA M. STEWART ELEMENTARY SCHOOL0.8 mi · 381
- JESSIE P. MILLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.9 mi · 586
- PACE CENTER FOR GIRLS1.9 mi · 56
- SEA BREEZE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL2.3 mi · 502
Frequently asked questions
About PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLHow large is PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls approximately 396 students in grades PK-05.
Is PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL an elementary, middle, or high school?
PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL have?
PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL employs 28 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.1:1.
What is the student diversity at PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
Student demographics at PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL are roughly 59% White, 22% Hispanic, 6% Black, 5% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in?
PALMA SOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is part of MANATEE.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.