2803 W Aquilla St
Tampa, FL 33629

My kids both went to Mitchell for the majority of elementary school. It’s a beautiful school and most of the teachers are wonderful. Administration is snobby though in our experience and very partial to the families with the most $$$ to donate to fundraisers. So sadly, the culture is very exclusive of kids who don’t come from upper middle class and wealthier south Tampa families. What was most unfair to my children about Mitchell was that the gifted program is extremely watered down due to private testing paid for by these families so that their average kids could be put in the gifted program. Kids who are actually testing on fcats (my daughter has had perfect scores 3x and all 5s and my daughter had all 5s) and obviously showing they are gifted are often not even tested because of how many privileged kids with average intelligence are passed into the program because their parents buy their way in. They never tested my youngest for gifted until we moved to pinellas county, and I knew he belonged in the gifted program since he was small. Now both kids have gone on to gifted programs in pinellas and are away from the toxicity of the south Tampa area. I should clarify not everyone there is this way, but many if not most people only care about status and material wealth in that area, which seems to be what has negatively impacted the culture and character of the school overall.

The school is a fraud. It used to be considered one of the best schools in the district. The only reason the kids score well is because every child is required to get expensive private tutors. 90 percent of the teachers are horrible, they hate teaching, they go on political rants, and they are absent more than the students. The kids vape in the bathrooms, and another children are afraid to go in there. No one cares about your child's learning. The school relies on its old South Tampa name, but it has gone extremely downhill. And the new principal doesn't seem like she is going to be any help.So sad to see a Tampa foundation crumble.

as a past student, i do not recommend this school. it’s listed as one of the top schools in tampa but they don’t ever discuss school fights, online safety, etc. on some occasions fights at school happen but nothing is done about it making this a somewhat unsafe campus where students don’t feel safe.