8539 Gull Dr
Englewood, FL 34224

Have had 3 children through the doors of this school, the last as a senior currently. The older two both got into universities, including UF, which is extremely competitive (#5 public university in the US). It's worth noting that in 2012/2013, the school had undergone a complete renovation/rebuild and is a state-of-the-art facility with advanced STEM programs (the Marine Lab is fantastic). The staff has always been extraordinarily responsive and proactive towards the children's education. As of 2025, the school is an "A" rated school... so the 4/10 rating is completely off and likely skewed by older results. The area demographics vary extremely wildly from upper upper income to pverty level- but that doesn't seem to have presented any sort of social stratification within the school. The area in general is fairly peaceful and safe, so this school doesn't see some of the issues that plague larger cities or larger schools. Highly recommend this school. This County (Charlotte) is an "open" school system- meaning, your kids are free to attend any of their public schools, transportation being the limiting factor. Even if we lived on the other side of the harbor I would STILL have found a way to have my kids attend this school.

In my experience as a prior student the, strongest part of this school was the teachers but other than that the learning, support, and overall education is very lacking. In my experience this school does little to make you excited to go and is extremely outdated and flooded many times when I went. Overall I do not recommend this school.

I enrolled my 6-year-old autistic son at Myakka River Elementary after being assured they had the resources and experience to support him. Unfortunately, our experience has been deeply disappointing and stressful.From the start, the school presented an IEP plan that sounded promising—but they have not followed through with it. My son, who had never been suspended before (and attended school in New Jersey without these issues), has been suspended twice in just five months. His behavior has noticeably changed for the worse since starting here, and he’s picked up habits he never had before.To make matters worse, his original teacher left mid-year, and he's had a substitute in the classroom for a significant portion of the school year. The lack of consistency and support has clearly impacted him.This school claimed they were equipped to support a child with autism, but in our experience, they have not met that standard. It feels like they were more interested in enrollment than in truly meeting his needs.If you're a parent of a neurodivergent child, I strongly urge you to ask hard questions, get everything in writing, and proceed with caution. Our family is now looking into advocacy and legal options to make sure our son's educational rights are respected.