Doby Elementary School

Posted: May 28, 2025

5/5 – A School That Truly Cares

I have two children currently attending Doby Elementary, and I couldn’t be more pleased with our experience. From the moment we enrolled, the teachers and staff have gone above and beyond to make our family feel welcome and supported. Communication is top tier — whether it’s updates from the classroom, school-wide announcements, or personal check-ins, we always feel informed and connected.

The dedication of the staff is evident in how much my kids enjoy going to school each day. They’re not just learning; they’re thriving. I’m already looking forward to my youngest joining the Doby family in the future!

Posted: May 28, 2025

Posted: May 28, 2025

Posted: May 28, 2025

Posted: May 28, 2025

Posted: May 28, 2025

Posted: May 28, 2025

Posted: May 28, 2025

Posted: May 22, 2025

As a military family navigating the challenges of relocating to Hillsborough County and understanding the school choice process, we were fortunate to find Doby—an ideal fit for our son. From the very beginning, the teachers, staff, PTA, and students have been incredibly welcoming and supportive of our entire family. The school took the time to thoroughly review our child’s IEP and made thoughtful adjustments to ensure he had the best possible learning environment, while also addressing his social needs. We are truly grateful for the care and dedication shown by everyone at Doby, and we will genuinely miss being part of this wonderful school community.

Posted: May 22, 2025

Posted: May 22, 2025

Posted: May 22, 2025

Posted: May 22, 2025

Posted: May 22, 2025

Posted: May 22, 2025

Posted: May 22, 2025

Posted: May 21, 2025

My kids did great at Doby! They're both diagnosed with ADHD and the amazing teachers and staff helped tremendously in the process of setting them up on a 504 plan. They're both now thriving academically!

Posted: May 21, 2025

Posted: May 21, 2025

Posted: May 21, 2025

Posted: May 21, 2025

Posted: May 21, 2025

Posted: May 21, 2025

Posted: May 21, 2025

Posted: May 18, 2025

Doby Elementary is a wonderful school that truly stands out for its friendly and hardworking staff. From the front office to the classroom, everyone goes above and beyond to create a welcoming and supportive environment for students and families alike. The facility is always clean and well-maintained, which reflects the pride the school takes in providing a safe and pleasant space for learning. The children are happy and engaged, and it’s easy to see that they enjoy coming to school each day. Most parents speak very highly of Doby, and it’s clear why — it’s a school that genuinely cares about its students and their success.

Posted: May 18, 2025

Posted: May 18, 2025

Posted: May 18, 2025

Posted: May 18, 2025

Posted: May 18, 2025

Posted: May 18, 2025

Posted: May 18, 2025

Posted: August 31, 2019

The fourth grade teachers make an effort to minimize any homework the students have (unless they do not complete work in class).

Posted: August 31, 2019

Something has happened at the school in the last year. There are a number of teacher vacancies that is causing a dramatic increase in the student/teacher ratio. The average number may be low, but 4th graders are at a 28:1 ratio right now.

Posted: August 31, 2019

Administration failed to hire enough teachers for the 2019/2020 school year. Cite a lack of qualified candidates, however speaking with other parents I know a number of qualified candidates were interviewed. The staff did not care for individuals and instead went with vacancies or subs.

Posted: August 31, 2019

The school is currently short on speech pathologists. Where last year there were two they currently only have one (yes, they are trying to work with a contractor to help with the caseload).

Posted: August 31, 2019

Posted: August 31, 2019

Doby Elementary dropped from a 'B' grade to a 'C' grade between 2018 and 2019. They also lost a large number of quality teachers over the summer and I see they now have a posting for a new AP. As a parent of a Doby child I'm very concerned for how the school year is evolving and hope significant improvements are made throughout the year. Otherwise I recommend parents take advantage of school choice early for alternatives (Apollo Beach elementary is rated a 'B').

Posted: February 14, 2019

It seems like, If your child is behind, they don't want to help at all. They clearly forget most successful people starts off slow.

Posted: February 14, 2019

I was exciting that he was starting a new school, I was happy for him. So far things are horrible.

Posted: August 21, 2016

My son has ADHD, Learning disability and speech disability. He was in a charter school in Kindergarten and 1sr grade and nobody wanted to help my son even they had an order for his doctor. They did not have the source to do it. I transferred him to Essrig Elementary and all teacher were complaining all the time about him instead of looking the way to help. They were calling almost everyday and his primary teacher asked for moved him to another class. I transferred him again to Doby Elementary; I have never received any call from them to put a complaint, they called somtimes to tell me wonderful things about him and they also told me that I was doing a awesome job!! He had 4 different teachers who helped him to succeed and now he knows to write and read! HisLas evaluation for the learning disability exceed the average grade for kids without disabilities and now his self-esteem is great!!! I really love so much Doby and is the best school I could find. I know God is with me all the time helping and He helped to find whis awesome school which really care about their students!!! Thank you so much Doby!!!!

Posted: August 21, 2016

Posted: August 21, 2016

Posted: August 21, 2016

Yes! They really care about his students and they want them to succeed. I'm so glad to found this school and bring to my kids a good environment

Posted: January 22, 2016

This is a terrible school, My daughter hates it here,she is a good kid and always gets green,but the teacher she has clearly does not care about the well being of the student, however,the reading teacher is great, that's the only positive thing I can say about the school. The gym teacher is a bully, I was appauled to see that he slammed the gate in her face,while other kids were watching,terrible example .

Posted: July 10, 2014

Great school! Clean, organized, and my daughters first year there went very well. She learned allot and I am very pleased she will be returning for first grade.it

Posted: April 20, 2014

Doby Elementary is a good school in my opinion. My child had some behavior issues early on, and I felt that they dealt with it as well as they could have within the rules and guidelines. Parents have to understand that public education is not particularly well equipped for children with special needs. My only wish is that something could be done about the drop off/pickup wait line, but I understand the restrictions. This school was a choice for us (no bus transportation provided). The traffic issue isn't specific to this school. As more and more parents choose to drop off/pick up children these days, these schools that were designed based on earlier statistics just cannot accommodate the excessive car traffic during drop off/pick up times. My other child will start Kindergarten here in the fall of 2014, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this school to others parents. Just be prepared to wait in line for drop off in the morning, or get them there right at 7:30 when they start to take drop offs.

Posted: February 3, 2014

I am actually stretching it with two stars. More like 1 1/2. My son's experiences there have been awful. He was bullied by a teacher and after numerous conferences and calls, there was no other resolution available but to move him to a new class. I was told by administration that their hands were tied with this teacher because he was in his final year before retirement. And I use the term administration loosely. We have been a Doby family for a little over a year now and have only seen the Principal twice. The AP is who has been the most helpful. The only shining star in this is that my daughter has truly enjoyed the music program led by Mr. V and his assistant.

Posted: August 21, 2013

My 2nd grader just started as a new student at Doby and so far she loves her teacher and the school. I am thankful for Choice, the assigned school that my daughter attended last year is a D school. We are new to the Ruskin/Apollo Beach area. I am happy she got into an A rated school. The only issue that I have with Doby is the drop off/pick up it takes over 30+ minutes to get to the front of the line. Hopefully as the school goes on it will get better.

Posted: August 12, 2013

My daughter transfered to this school in April...we just moved to here from KY in feb...from feb to the end of may she went to a school in Tamp which was horrible..omg I don't reccomend even speaking of that school...but DOBY was AWESOME..!!! They welcomed my daughter with open arms...she is ready to start 2nd grade at Doby and I'm just as excited!!! The teachers and staff were excellent....

Posted: May 10, 2013

We wish the principal would be more active with the kids. She is always in the main office instead of being outside greeting kids and parents. She hardly ever attends the kids awards ceremonies and instead puts her assistant principal to be out there with the parents. However, our kids love the school. Our son had never shown any interest in Music. Thanks to Mr. V, he can now play the electric guitar and keyboard. They have also shown him many other instruments. He loves PE and the coach is very active with the kids. The computer access at every classroom is great. Our kids have been shown how to do Microsoft Power Point presentations and I didn't even know. Most of the teachers are active with email communication with parents. We did have a case when our daughter was bullied in the playard. We went to the teacher and talked directly to the principal. The matter was investigated and properly handled. Our other kid had issues with the FACT and were notified a bit later in the year. However, thanks to our involvement he was retested and properly passed with the aggressive state regulation on the fcat from last year. Our son's Math teacher has a master's in Math!

Posted: February 9, 2012

I must say that I'm surprised by these negative comments about Doby. I think that this school is amazing and have nothing but positive things to say. I think that the staff is always friendly and I've never had an issue with any of my kids teachers. There have been times when my children were confused with homework and I went to their teacher and explained to them what was going on and they helped my child until they understood(also material was sent home for them to practice and study with, along with some websites that they can use to help study) I have 3 children,two which have already graduated from Doby and one that still and I'm forever grateful for all the staff who have been there to prepare my children for the future. My children and I are very proud to have been and to be a Doby Navigator!!!

Posted: February 9, 2012

I am very happy with this school. My daughter is a bright child who wears a hearing aid and uses an FM system. I am a very active participant in my childs education. I am extremely pleased with the relationship I have developed with my daughter's teachers, guidance councelor, and administration. I think parents need to address any concerns they have and they will be pleased with how this school addresses them. I was concerned because my daughter was bored with the math, she wasn't fully utilizing her FM system, and at the beginning of the year she was bullied. I am very happy to say that as soon as I communicated with the school my concerns they were all addressed. This is a wonderful school.

Posted: February 8, 2012

It just now hit me! My 2 son's attend this school and I just realized that this school does not send home school books for the students to continue or understand what they've learned throughout the day/week/year. One of my sons was not doing so well in a particular subject, which was noted by the teacher. I now ask myself, how can I help him get better and understand the subject if I don't have the material to teach him. I don't believe anyone can just study from a piece of paper sent home. I asked him about taking notes in class and he says they don't. I feel this school system and maybe others in HC are just teaching to this FCAT test and don't care about understanding the material. I wouldn't care if my boys received books from 1990, because the underlying message didn't change...A noun is still a noun, 2+2=4 and the Earth is still round. No science, math or english books to send home, but my son is doing bad in a subject and can't figure it out. Help me, help these teachers. Where does all the money this school raises go to? Benches so you can eat outside. No field trips to Nature parks, no museums visits....Florida's future, huh!!

Posted: June 9, 2011

This school is not one that i would say i would put my kid in. My son went there for K & 1st grade and I'm pulling him out. They allow kids to bully other kids & award them for it. The teachers here have there favorite students. So make sure u get good with their teacher. There is 1 lady in the office that is very rude. (data processor)