Alachua County Public Schools maintains B grade, has four elementary schools at the bottom of the statewide list
BY LEN CABRERA
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) earned more points in the 2025-26 school year (749 vs. 739) but retained its B grade for the fourth year in a row, due to a revised grading scale. The district also had four elementary schools near the bottom of the statewide list, with Rawlings Elementary earning the lowest percentage of possible points in the state.
ACPS had one more A school than 2024-25, but it also had one more D school and one more F school. Overall, nine schools improved their grades, and nine schools received lower grades.
Statewide, there was a large improvement, with 205 more schools receiving an A grade (76% of all schools earned an A or a B, up from 71% in 2024-2025; 65% of ACPS schools received an A or a B, the same as last year). According to the report, 88% of schools that received a D or F in 2024-25 improved their grade in 2025-26. As a result, there were 37 fewer schools receiving a D grade and three fewer F schools.
ACPS retained its B grade from last year. While the district scored 10 more points, its percentage of total possible points remained the same (62%). The table below shows the distribution of Alachua County school grades for the past five years.
Three new schools will be designated as SI (School Improvement) schools for the 2026-27 school year, dropping from Cs to either a D or F. These schools are Lake Forest, Metcalfe, and Rawlings Elementary Schools. Williams Elementary School also earned a D, the same grade as last year.
Those four ACPS elementary schools are also at the bottom of the statewide list of non-charter schools, when sorted by the percentage of total possible points:
- Rawlings (28%)
- Lake Forest (37%)
- Williams (38%)
- Metcalfe (39%)
Rawlings scored lowest in the state by percentage of possible points, and all four elementary schools’ percentages are among the bottom eight in the state. (There are six schools tied for eighth lowest at 39%.)
Two schools that had been categorized by the state as SI (School Improvement) schools earned higher grades in 2025-26: Shell Elementary and Stephen Foster Elementary (which has now been closed) both raised their grades from a D to a C.
Alachua County Public Schools that received a better grade this year are listed below, with charter schools marked with an asterisk:
- Archer Elementary (C to B)
- Boulware Springs * (B to A)
- Lincoln Middle (B to A)
- Micanopy Area Cooperative * (B to A)
- Oak View Middle (B to A)
- Santa Fe College Academy * (B to A)
- Shell Elementary (D to C)
- Stephen Foster Elementary (D to C)
- The One Room School House Project * (C to B)
Alachua County Public Schools that received a lower grade this year are listed below, with charter schools marked with an asterisk:
- Caring & Sharing Learning * (A to B)
- Eastside High (B to C)
- Gainesville High (A to B)
- Kanapaha Middle (A to B)
- Lake Forest Elementary (C to D)
- Littlewood Elementary (A to B)
- Metcalfe Elementary (C to D)
- Newberry Elementary (B to C)
- Rawlings Elementary (C to F)
In a press release on July 1, ACPS wrote, “As a whole, the district’s results reflect continued academic growth while meeting higher state expectations. Although the revised grading scale resulted in some schools earning lower letter grades despite similar or improved performance, the underlying achievement data show positive momentum for students across Alachua County Public Schools.”
The tables below show the full list of Alachua County school grades for the last five years.
The district and school grade data are available from the Florida Department of Education. A report explaining the school grading system and the 2025-26 results is available here. The district grades are found here. Individual school grades are found here.
For years, the School Board of Alachua County—with a Certain SBAC member driving the agenda—has treated equity as a reallocation scheme rather than an achievement strategy. By shifting funds and resources away from successful West side schools to subsidize underperforming East side schools, the board thought they would get different results.
Instead, the results speak for themselves: inputs don’t equal outputs. West side classrooms are forced to absorb the strain of fewer resources, while East side state grades stay stagnant at ‘D’ or ‘F’ levels. Years of data prove that you cannot spend your way out of structural educational failures. If Certain communities and families prioritized foundational educational skills at home with the same intensity they dedicate to athletic skills on the courts and fields, we would likely see entirely different scores. No district policy can substitute for personal accountability and parental involvement.
Punishing successful schools to fund a failed ideological experiment hasn’t leveled the playing field; it has simply compromised the entire district’s standards while failing the very students it claimed it would help. The true indicator will be next year’s results after Terwilliger’s rezoning—will the grade jump or stay grounded with consistency and maintain a ‘C’?
Thanks for the data Len!
Just a few more months…Let’s hold tight. Certain will be out of our students’ lives…Finally. Her years on the school board have been the worst. She is evil, racist, and indifferent. I hope people make the right decisions and keep that woman away from other seats in the county.
That quote from ACPS is quite something: “the underlying achievement data show positive momentum for students across Alachua County Public Schools.”
I’m sorry, what? Four of your elementary schools, all on the east side of town, are ranked at the very bottom of the state list, and you think this shows positive momentum for students ACROSS YOUR SCHOOLS?
No wonder our schools keep dropping relative to the rest of the state…
Alachua County schools continue to outperform other districts in the school to prison pipeline.
We’re committed to the success of every student.
Right
Any parent who relies upon the welfare of the State to provide for their children’s education is getting exactly what they deserve. Complaining about it makes you look like an EBT cardholder complaining about what you can’t buy with your welfare card.
Try being fiscally responsible for your children, and enroll them in a private school, where you will have much more control over education quality. You’ll end up with smarter kids and you’ll feel better about yourself as a parent. If you don’t feel that’s a financial option for you, then it’s a sign from God that you had children you could not afford to have, and that’s on you, not the SBAC.