Manatee Academy K-8, 1450 SW Heatherwood Blvd.: kindergarten to 8, 1,723 students in 2023-24 and a B in Florida's 2026 grades.

Last checked Oct. 11, 2026. Sources: the school’s website, the district’s school profile, zone charts, 2026-27 calendar, the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades file and the federal NCES school directory.

Manatee Academy K-8 is a St. Lucie Public Schools school for kindergarten through eighth grade on SW Heatherwood Boulevard in Port St. Lucie. The mascot is the Mighty Manatee and the school colors are blue and silver, according to the district’s school profile.

Who to call
Address 1450 SW Heatherwood Blvd., Port St. Lucie, FL 34986
Phone 772-340-4745
Grades K to 8
School day 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
District St. Lucie Public Schools

Principal

Principal Kerri Walukiewicz, according to the district’s school profile.

Enrollment and teachers

  • Federal count: 1,723 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 87 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES school directory. That works out to about 20 students per teacher.
  • Building capacity: 1,849 students, according to the district’s school profile.

State report card

Florida grades every public school A to F. A school’s grade is the share of possible points it earns on state test results and learning gains, plus, for high schools, the graduation rate and college and career acceleration. The state’s 2026 file sets an A for a combination school (one that spans elementary, middle or high grades) at 65% of points or more, according to the 2025-26 school grades file from the Florida Department of Education.

School year Grade
2025-26 B (64% of possible points)
2024-25 B
2023-24 B

The share of students scoring on grade level on the state tests in 2025-26, from the same file:

  • English language arts: 61%
  • Math: 63%
  • Science: 57%
  • Social studies: 78%

The full report card is on the state’s Florida school report cards site. It is an interactive dashboard; the figures above come from the downloadable file.

Attendance zone

St. Lucie Public Schools does not draw neighborhood attendance lines for elementary and middle grades. It uses three regional zones, and families rank the schools in their zone, according to the district’s Student Assignment office. Midway Road and Florida’s Turnpike are the dividing lines: the Green zone is north of Midway Road, the Blue zone is south of Midway Road and east of the Turnpike, and the Red zone is south of Midway Road and west of the Turnpike. Siblings, and children who live within two miles of a school, get preference.

The district’s zone chart (PDF) lists Manatee Academy K-8 in the Red zone (home ZIP codes 34953, 34972, 34986, 34987 and 34988), alongside Allapattah Flats K-8, Bayshore Elementary, Oak Hammock K-8, Palm Pointe K-8, St. Lucie West K-8, Tradition Lakes K-8, West Gate K-8 and Windmill Point Elementary. Families can rank schools in their own transportation service area or across their whole zone, though the district says buses may not run to schools outside a family’s ZIP code area, and children who live within two miles of a school may not get a bus.

Check an address on the district’s school locator map. For 2026-27, early K-8 enrollment ran Jan. 1-31 and open K-8 enrollment ran March 1-31; transfer petitions were taken in May.

Which high school?

High school students are assigned to their residential zone school by ZIP code, not by the school they attended before, according to the Student Assignment office. The district’s high school zone chart (PDF) splits Port St. Lucie among Port St. Lucie High, St. Lucie West Centennial, Treasure Coast High, Legacy High and Fort Pierce Central. For Red zone homes, the chart sends Tradition (34987) to Legacy High; 34986 to Fort Pierce Central north of Peacock Boulevard or to St. Lucie West Centennial south of it; and 34953 to Legacy, Centennial or Treasure Coast depending on which side of Gatlin Boulevard, Rosser Boulevard and the power lines a home sits.

Calendar and bell times

From the district’s board-approved 2026-27 calendar (PDF):

  • Monday, Oct. 12: teacher workday, no school for students
  • Wednesday, Oct. 28: early release
  • Tuesday, Nov. 3: teacher training day, no school
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, no school
  • Nov. 23-27: Thanksgiving break
  • Dec. 21 to Jan. 4: winter break; students return Tuesday, Jan. 5
  • March 22-26, 2027: spring break
  • Friday, May 28, 2027: last day for students

The district’s school profile lists the school day as 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

More on Port St. Lucie schools

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Manatee Academy K-8 serve?

Kindergarten through eighth grade, at 1450 SW Heatherwood Blvd. in Port St. Lucie.

What is Manatee Academy K-8’s school grade?

A B in Florida’s 2026 school grades, with 64% of possible points, its third B in a row.

Which high school does Manatee Academy K-8 feed into?

None by rule. High school follows the home ZIP code: in the Red zone that means Legacy, St. Lucie West Centennial, Treasure Coast or Fort Pierce Central.

What time does Manatee Academy K-8 start?

The district’s school profile lists the school day as 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.