New ratings recently released by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) show that Alachua County Public Schools’ early education programs significantly outperformed similar programs across the state. 

According to the FDOE, 78% of the district’s Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) programs were rated “Excellent” – more than double the statewide rate of 33%. These scores are based on students’ academic performance and direct classroom observations. 

Out of the 68 public and private VPK providers in Alachua County, 31% were rated “Excellent.”  A large portion of the VPK providers in the county are private, according to an ACPS press release. 

“Something that really sets us apart is the quality of our staff, who are highly educated and trained in early childhood education,” said Trisha Rodriguez, who coordinates the district’s VPK programs, in the release. “They are very dedicated to this field and are always looking for new ways to prepare children for kindergarten and beyond.” 

A total of seven Alachua County School District programs received an “Excellent” rating. This includes Chiles, Talbot, Wiles, Newberry, Archer and Irby Elementary Schools, as well as Duval Early Learning Academy.  

The VPK programs at Norton and Terwilliger Elementary Schools both received an “Above Expectations” rating, which, the release said, is the second-highest ranking offered by the state.  

Four out of the top 10 VPK programs in the county for overall performance – academics and observations – are within the ACPS system. This includes Chiles (2), Talbot (3), Wiles (6) and Newberry (8) elementary schools.  

Five of the top 10 VPK programs in the county in the observation category are also within the district. This includes Newberry (1), Chiles (3), Talbot (4), Irby (9) and Archer (10) elementary schools.  

According to the release, Newberry ranked No. 11 among all of Florida’s 6,095 VPK providers in the observation category.  

This marked the first year the state has implemented a formal performance metric to rate VPK programs. Under this new system, providers that don’t perform well enough risk losing VPK dollars from the state, the release said.  

“The best way to prepare students for school is to place them in the school setting,” Rodriguez said. “These results show that a high level of learning is happening in our school-based VPK programs.”