Moving? See The Best Schools In Palm Beach County

For many homebuyers finding a place to live in an area with good schools is right up there on their must-have list along with demands that the home be in move-in ready condition or have an upgraded kitchen and bath. But what makes one school better than another goes beyond test scores and student-teacher ratios.

If you dont have family or friends to ask, the Internet provides a rich source of information, with websites that can help you find the right home in the right school district based not only on statistics, but also on parent and student feedback.

The task can seem overwhelming especially given the fact that Florida has 67 counties, more than 3,600 public schools and close to 2.6 million students. The tri-county area, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, has some of the largest school districts. Miami-Dade ranks fourth in the state with 392 schools. Broward ranks sixth with 232 schools.

The School District of Palm Beach County is the 5th largest in Florida with 185 schools, serving 176,724 students in grades kindergarten through 12th.
It has an "A" rating from the Florida Department of Education for the eighth consecutive year based on student performance on the FCAT, according to the districts website.
The school grades are among the highest in Florida with 86 schools earning As, 28
earning Bs, 24 earning Cs, 10 earning D's and 3 incompletes, according to district statistics. The statistics do not include alternative, charter and high schools.
Of the 134 elementary schools in Palm Beach School District, eight received a 10, the highest ranking from education.com.

They are:
- Addison Mizner, Boca Raton
- Binks Forest Elementary, Wellington
- Del Prado Elementary School, Boca Raton
- Equestrian Trails Elementary, Wellington
- Jupiter Farms Elementary, Jupiter
- Morikami Park Elementary, Delray Beach
- South Olive Elementary School, West Palm Beach *
- Waters Edge Elementary School, Boca Raton

Not all websites are in agreement, but when it comes to elementary schools in Palm Beach County, greatschools.net was fairly close in agreement with education.com It included all of the aforementioned elementary schools, plus the following three:

Limestone Creek Elementary, Jupiter
Marsh Pointe Elementary, Palm Beach Gardens
Manatee Elementary, Lake Worth

Greatschools.net gave the following middle schools in Palm Beach County a ten rating:

- A.D. Henderson University School, Boca Raton
- Bak Middle School of the Arts, West Palm Beach *
- Don Estridge High Tech Middle School, Boca Raton *
- Omni Middle School, Boca Raton
- Wellington Landings Middle School, Wellington *

Both Greatschools.com and Education.com were in agreement on those middle schools with asterisks. Education.com did not rank A.D. Henderson and it gave Omni Middle a 9 ranking.

There are various other sources providing information that can help you make an informed decision. For example, earlier this year U.S. News and World Report analyzed 21,035 public high schools in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Several Florida high schools made the list.

Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach and Suncoast Community High School in Riviera Beach rank among the top ten high schools in Palm Beach County.
Boca Raton Community High School ranked No. 30
G-​Star School Of The Arts was ranked at No. 44

While ranking systems are not the end all to deciding where to move or what school is best for your child, they do provide a great jumping off point to conduct research and can help anyone thinking of moving to make a more informed decision.