Mater Beach Academy, 8625 Byron Ave.: a tuition-free K-8 public charter school, 586 students (NCES 2024-25), an A in Florida's 2026 school grades.

Last checked Oct. 9, 2026. Sources: the Mater Beach Academy website, the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades file, the federal NCES school directory and Miami-Dade County’s address point records.

Mater Beach Academy is a tuition-free public charter school for kindergarten through eighth grade in North Beach. The state and the federal directory list it as Mater Academy (Miami Beach). The federal directory gives its mailing city as Miami, but the county’s address records place 8625 Byron Ave. inside Miami Beach city limits. As a charter school it is run by its own governing board and has no attendance zone.

Who to call

Address 8625 Byron Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33141
Phone 305-864-2889
Grades K to 8
Type Public charter school
School district Miami-Dade, in the NCES directory

Principal

Principal Marisol Gomez, according to the principal’s message and the staff directory on the school’s website, which also list one assistant principal.

How admission works

The school’s history page says it is “open to students residing in Miami-Dade County, regardless of race, religion, nationality, or ethnic origin.” Families apply through the online application. The school’s controlled open enrollment page lists capacity and open seats by grade and says the school keeps waitlists as needed. When we checked on Oct. 9, that page, which carries no date of its own, showed open seats in kindergarten through fifth grade and none in grades 6 to 8. The school’s website also advertises a pre-K program for 2026-27.

About the school

According to its history page, Mater Beach Academy opened in August 2010 as a K-8 center with about 300 students. Its website says the school is served by Academica, a charter school service company that handles facilities, finance, staffing and compliance for the school’s independent governing board. The site’s About Us menu links to Mater Academy Inc.

Enrollment

The federal NCES directory counted 586 students in the 2024-25 school year, with 37 full-time-equivalent classroom teachers, a ratio of 15.8 students per teacher.

State report card

Florida grades every public school, charter schools included, A to F. The state says school grades “provide an easily understandable way to measure the performance of a school,” in its 2026 school grades overview.

School year Grade
2025-26 A (72% of possible points)
2024-25 A
2023-24 B

From the 2026 grades file, where achievement is the share of tested students at grade level or above:

  • Third grade English language arts achievement: 68%
  • English language arts achievement: 70%
  • Math achievement: 76%
  • Science achievement: 55%
  • Social studies achievement: 86%
  • Middle school acceleration: 97%

The state’s file lists the school as a Title I school. The full report card is on the state’s Florida school report cards site.

Attendance zone and next schools

Mater Beach Academy has no attendance zone and is not part of a district feeder pattern. Every Miami Beach address is zoned for Miami Beach Senior High and Nautilus Middle in Miami-Dade County’s boundary maps, so those are the district schools a Mater Beach student living in the city would be assigned to.

Calendar

Charter schools set their own calendars. The school posts monthly calendars in the news section of its website. We did not find daily bell times on the site.

More on Miami Beach schools

Frequently asked questions

Is Mater Beach Academy a public school?

Yes. It is a tuition-free public charter school for kindergarten through eighth grade, open to students who live in Miami-Dade County, according to the school’s website.

How do you enroll at Mater Beach Academy?

Families apply through the online application on the school’s website. The school says it keeps waitlists when grades are full.

What is Mater Beach Academy’s school grade?

The state lists it as Mater Academy (Miami Beach). It earned an A in Florida’s 2026 school grades, with 72% of possible points, after an A in 2025 and a B in 2024.

Does Mater Beach Academy have an attendance zone?

No. As a charter school it has no zone; students from anywhere in Miami-Dade County may apply.