Moving to Florida | Florida Schools | How to Locate the Best Districts Near Your New Home

If you are considering moving to a new place, the school system might be an important factor in your decision. When we work with buyers, they often ask about the schools in Florida; how to know which ones are rated higher, how to know which houses are zoned to which schools, etc.
 
As realtors, we are not really qualified to comment on schools in regards to comparing them and giving our opinions on them.

So I rely heavily on the resources provided by the Florida Department of Education to share information with clients about the schools in the area.
 
Lakewood Ranch, FL is known for its A-rated school district, as is Sarasota county as a whole. On the Gulf coast, those are some of the highest rated schools. On the East coast, St. John’s County is also very highly rated on a consistent basis.
 
In the video above, I share some Florida public schools resources with you and walk you through the Florida Department of Education School Accountability Report to show how they grade the schools throughout the state.
 
This spreadsheet is a great tool to explore. It lists each county on the left, then each school within the county and the grades associated with them. There are number grades for each subject, as well as a letter grade for the overall school rating.The letter grade is given based on the following criteria: “The four achievement components are English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. These components include student performance on statewide standardized assessments, including the comprehensive assessments and end-of-course (EOC) assessments. The component measures the percentage of full-year enrolled students who achieved a passing score.”
 
The number of points earned for each component is added together and divided by the total number of available points to determine the percentage of points earned.

It then follows this School Grading Scale: A = 62% of points or greater, B = 54% to 61% of points, C = 41% to 53% of points, D = 32% to 40% of points, F = 31% of points or less
 
All Florida Public Schools must test 95% of their students.
 
You can learn more about this criteria on the Florida Department of Education website.
 
Utilizing that spreadsheet is a start, but how do you know which schools your future home is zoned to? The next step is to use a School Locator Tool to determine which elementary, middle, and high school is in the attendance zone of your future home.

We have a tool on our website under the “Lakewood Ranch Villages” tab with links to the Manatee and Sarasota County school locator websites. You simply enter the address of the home you are considering buying and it shows the schools that would be attended. You can find this for just about every school district in Florida.

This information is also sometimes included in the listing for the home, but you always want to double check that to make sure it is accurate. 
Another website with school ratings to consider looking at is Niche. They share their top-ranked Florida school districts here. 

For more information on the Lakewood Ranch area, or questions on other parts of Florida, please reach out! We are happy to share what we know and refer you to an agent in another part of the state if that would be the best move for you.

​Send us an email: Contact@chenkus.com
941-348-2653
 
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