Alachua County Public Schools has earned a grade of B for the 2024-25 school year and was just two percentage points from an A grade, according to information released today by the Florida Department of Education. It is the district’s third straight B grade since the state resumed the grading of schools and districts after the pandemic. The number of A and B schools in the district increased during the last school year.
Student performance on statewide assessments is the primary basis for the school grade. At the secondary level, additional indicators such as graduation rate, participation and performance in advanced courses, college and career readiness and other factors are also part of the calculation. The state also gives significantly greater weight to the test scores of lower-performing students when determining school grades, including both their overall scores and their gains from year to year.
The district’s performance increased on a majority of the state’s grading components, including overall achievement in English Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and College and Career Acceleration, which includes such factors as students passing advanced courses and earning career certifications.
Twenty-two of the district’s traditional (non-charter) schools received A and B grades for the 2024-25 school year, up from 19 in the previous year.
None of district’s traditional schools received a failing grade in 2025. Two schools that had been categorized by the state as SI (School Improvement) schools earned higher grades this year. Alachua Elementary and Rawlings Elementary both raised their grades from a D to a C, removing them from SI status.
Additional schools raising their grades this year include Littlewood (B-A), Meadowbrook (B-A), and Norton (C-B) Elementary Schools; Bishop (C-B), Ft. Clarke (B to an A), and Kanapaha (B-A) Middle Schools; and Eastside (C-B), Gainesville (B-A) and Santa Fe (C-B) High Schools.
Three schools received D grades this year and will be designated as SI schools for the 2025-26 school year. These schools are Foster, Shell and Williams Elementary Schools.
To further strengthen achievement across the district, Alachua County Public Schools has launched several initiatives. For the upcoming school year, literacy specialists will be embedded in every school to support reading and writing instruction across all curricular areas. The district is also expanding its use of Instructional Empowerment, a system designed to boost student academic outcomes through changes in instructional practice focusing on a rigorous student-centered model of instruction.
Since January, the district has adopted new tools that allow teachers and administrators to quickly access and analyze real-time student performance data. School and district leaders now participate in regular Data Dialogues to review progress, share best practices, and guide instructional decision-making.
The most successful instructional strategies are driven by data,” said Superintendent Dr. Kamela Patton, who implemented the Data Dialogues shortly after joining the district in late November. “By constantly reviewing student progress—from the district level to the classroom and down to the individual student—we can more effectively identify and apply strategies that will help every child succeed.”