- Alachua County Public Schools maintained a district grade of B for 2025-26 despite a more rigorous state grading scale this year.
- Twenty-one traditional ACPS schools earned A or B grades, while one school, Rawlings Elementary, received an F.
- ACPS student proficiency in English Language Arts increased from 55% in 2025 to 59% in 2026 across grades 3-10.
The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) recently released school and district grades, and Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) maintained its district grade of a B for the 2025-26 school year despite what district officials said was a more rigorous grading scale implemented by the state this year.
According to an ACPS press release, the modified grading system increased the number of points required for districts, high schools and combination schools to earn A and B grades, making it more difficult to achieve Florida’s highest ratings.
State law requires the FDOE to increase the grading scale whenever 75% or more of schools within a grade-level category earn A or B grades, the release said. Because district grades are calculated using the combination school scale, districts across the state were also held to the higher standard.
According to state data, 21 of ACPS’s traditional public schools (non-charter) earned A and B grades this year.
Seven of the district’s traditional schools maintained an A grade. This includes Hidden Oak Elementary School, Meadowbrook Elementary School, Talbot Elementary School, Fort Clarke Middle School, High Springs Community School, Buchholz High School and Professional Academy Magnet at Loften High School.
ACPS had one school receive a failing grade this year, as Rawlings Elementary School fell from a C to an F. Three other traditional schools – Lake Forest Elementary School, Metcalfe Elementary School and Williams Elementary School – received D grades.
Two of the traditional schools that received a D grade last year – Stephen Foster and Shell Elementary Schools – increased to a C this year. Foster closed at the end of this school year as part of a right-sizing plan conducted through ACPS’s “Our Schools – Future Ready” initiative.
Other traditional schools that also increased their grade included:
- Archer Elementary School (C-B)
- Lincoln Middle School (B-A)
- Oak View Middle School (B-A)
A complete list of ACPS school grades for this year can be found below.
Elementary:
- Carolyn Beatrice Parker: B
- Stephen Foster: C
- Lake Forest: D
- Littlewood: B
- Metcalfe: D
- Williams: D
- Alachua: C
- Archer: B
- Shell: C
- Terwilliger: C
- Idylwild: C
- Glen Springs: B
- Rawlings: F
- Hidden Oak: A
- Wiles: B
- Chiles: B
- Meadowbrook: A
- Newberry: C
- Norton: B
- Talbot: A
Middle:
- Lincoln: A
- Howard W. Bishop: B
- Westwood: C
- Hawthorne: C
- Mebane: C
- Fort Clarke: A
- Kanapaha: B
- Oak View: A
High School:
- Gainesville: B
- Newberry: B
- Santa Fe: B
- Loften: A
- Eastside: C
- Buchholz: A
Other:
- Alachua eSchool (Virtual Franchise): Incomplete
- High Springs Community School: A
Charter:
- Santa Fe College Academy of Science and Technology: A
- The One Room School House Project: B
- Micanopy Area Cooperative School: A
- Caring & Sharing Learning School: B
- Expressions Learning Arts Academy: A
- Alachua Learning Academy Elementary: A
- Micanopy Academy: C
- Healthy Learning Academy Charter School: A
- Alachua Learning Academy Middle: A
- Boulware Springs Charter: A
- Resilience Charter School: D
According to the FDOE, “Each school is graded based on the components for which it has sufficient data.” Schools also have to test at least 95% of students.
In 2025-26, a school’s grade can include up to 12 components. According to the FDOE, these include five achievement components in subjects like English Language Arts (ELA), Grade 3 ELA, mathematics, science and social studies, as well as four learning gains (ELA learning gains, math learning gains, ELA learning gains of the lowest 25% of students and math learning gains of the lowest 25% of students). Other components include middle school acceleration, graduation rate, and college and career acceleration.
According to the FDOE, every component is worth up to 100 points in the overall calculation.
The achievement and learning gains components also include student performance on statewide standardized assessments, according to the FDOE.
The state recently released 2025-26 statewide assessment results, including Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) ELA and math scores.
First administered during the 2022-23 school year, FAST assessments are given three times during each school year as a “progress monitoring assessment,” according to the FDOE.
The first assessment takes place at the start of the school year (PM1), the second in the middle of the year (PM2) and the third at the end of the year (PM3).
According to the FDOE, “PM1 and PM2 results are for informational purposes only and should be used to identify areas in which students may need additional instruction and support.”
PM3, meanwhile, provides “a summative score at the end of the year to measure student mastery of the grade-level content,” according to the FDOE.
Scores on Florida’s statewide assessments are categorized into five achievement levels, ranging from 1 to 5, according to the FDOE. A breakdown is provided below.
- Level 1: Well below grade level
- Level 2: Below grade level
- Level 3: On grade level
- Level 4: Proficient
- Level 5: Exemplary
Based on the latest FAST ELA assessment results, the percentage of ACPS students in grades 3-10 performing at or above grade level increased from 55% in 2025 to 59% in 2026.
FDOE data shows that the district’s overall proficiency rate remained slightly below the statewide average of 61%.
ACPS’s biggest gain in ELA occurred at the middle and high school levels, according to the data. The percentage of sixth-eighth grade students performing at or above grade level in 2026 was 60% – a five-point improvement from 2025 (55%).
Ninth through 10th-grade students also saw a five-point increase in 2026, going from 56% at or above grade level in 2025 to 61% in 2026, according to data.
While not as much as middle and high school, the district also saw improvement at the elementary level. According to the data, the percentage of ACPS students in grades three through five at or above grade level increased by three points from 2025 to 2026 (54% to 57%).
The data shows that while elementary and middle school students improved in ELA this year, the district remained below the statewide averages of 61% and 62% for grades three through five and six through eight, respectively.
ACPS high school students, meanwhile, exceeded the statewide average of 60%, according to the data.
In terms of mathematics, data shows that the percentage of ACPS students in grades 3-8 performing at or above grade level in 2026 remained the same as in 2025 (52%).
Based on the data, elementary (grades 3-5) performance also remained steady from 2025, with 54% of the students performing at or above grade level. This is 10 percentage points below the statewide average of 64%.
The data also shows that there was a slight increase in the number of ACPS middle school (grades 6-8) students performing at or above grade level, with the number going from 48% in 2025 to 50% in 2026. However, this is still nine percentage points below the statewide average of 59%.
In terms of overall math proficiency this year, the district was 10 percentage points below the statewide average of 62%.
For more information on the statewide assessment scores, visit https://www.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment/results/2026.stml.
Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.